Serenity's Resolve
by Evalea
Summary: She saved him from death and now Daryl wants to bring her into their communities, he knows someone like her shouldn't be alone, and she's to smart for them to not have. Serenity has never been with a group, she doesn't trust people she doesn't know and she's afraid of what'll happen to the group if she does. He's stubborn, but she has resolve. Daryl/OC. Slow Burn romance.
1. Chapter 1

She could hear the munchers before she saw them. Ducking down behind the trees she knew if they couldn't see her, they wouldn't come after her, the wind was taking her scent away from them. But then she heard grunting too. Peaking around the tree she saw a man clutching his side, stumbling away from the pack. He carried a crossbow and seemed like he hadn't taken a bath or gotten a hair cut in years. But on his back, she could see he was carrying a bag of things.

Depending on what was in it, those supplies could be useful. If the munchers got to him it could get ripped apart or tainted by their disease. Cursing in her mind she watched as the man fell over, no longer able to stay awake from blood loss. Flicking her wrists, releasing the blades from the holders on them, she let out a whistle distracting the dead.

She rushed the ones coming for her, her hands in fists so that her blades landed in their skulls when she punched at them. Slicing and swiping the munchers, she flicked one of her wrists as she reached out for the hair of one about to bite the man, her blade retracting, stabbing it in the head with the other. Flicking her other wrist, she threw the body to the side, looking down at the unconscious man.

The vest he had on was ragged as if he'd been wearing it since the beginning of all of this, he was smart though, his pants closed off at the bottom by way of tape around his ankles to keep the snakes out. None of that was important though as she reached for the bag, yanking it off of him, before moving away from him with it.

In case he woke up she went behind a tree, opening it up to look at the contents. She got confused when all she found were little boy onesies, baby bottles, reusable diapers, and some seeds. The seeds she could use, but everything else? What the hell would she do with that? She'd figure something out though, she didn't kill all those things just for the sake of saving him.

Putting the bag on her back she began to walk away when she heard him speak, voice weak and barely there, "Please. Don't."

He was barely awake but reaching out for her. She knew deep down that the stuff in his bag was for someone's baby, maybe even his. Watching as his body went lax again, she swallowed hard and against her better judgement, went back to him, grabbing him by the legs, beginning to pull him back to her car.

* * *

There was a pain in his side as he woke up, but there was also a soft mattress under him and a fluffy pillow cushioning his head. As he opened his eyes, he also noticed there was a note stuck to his forehead. Grabbing it Daryl tried to sit up before wincing in pain and laying back down to read it.

 _DO NOT SIT UP._

 _Water is next to you, drink it slow._

He looked next to him and saw a glass of water with a straw placed in it on the desk. It didn't matter how thirsty he was he wasn't going to drink something from someone he didn't know, especially when he didn't even know where he was at.

Sitting up slower this time he realized he didn't have a shirt on and that his torso had been washed and the stab wound stitched together and bandaged. His shoes were also off. Daryl looked around and tried to figure out where his things were, and also his bag, but none of them seemed to be in the small room. Trying to figure out where the hell he was he looked at the simple wooden furniture, bare white walls, and ugly carpeting. It wasn't a big room, in fact it wouldn't even fit two people in it.

He heard keys coming down the hallway and looked for anything to defend himself with, but the room had been cleaned of anything short of the furniture and the glass of water. The key was inserted in the door and he was surprised to see a girl, well he guessed she was old enough to be a woman, coming in with a tray in her hands that had a bowl of soup on it. She was quite small but had clearly defined muscles in her arms, probably how she was able to get him there. Her chocolate brown hair was up in a tight bun on the top of her head and she had a tank top on with tight pants with boots that went over them.

She stopped seeing him actually up, her hands gripping tight to the tray. One bowl of soup was worth losing to knock this guy out if he tried something. They stared at each other for a minute. Both waiting for the other to do something. When he didn't rush her or try anything she slowly moved to the desk, making sure to put the keys to the door back around her neck.

Daryl noticed the number of keys on the chain, it was at least fifteen. Those might lead to a way out of this place. He watched her closely as she set the tray down on the desk, before putting her hands up non-threateningly.

Stepping closer towards him she began to reach for the bandage on his stomach, wanting to make sure he didn't agitate it by sitting up but before her fingers could get close, he grabbed her wrist defensively.

Daryl saw her wince away as he grabbed her, but then noticed her other hand was hovering above the handle of the knife on her hip. They were once again just staring at each other until she moved the hand that he was gripping, pointing to his wound. He looked down and realized she just wanted to check it.

He let go of her wrist and her heart beat began to regulate again, but she kept her eyes on his hands as she peeled the bandage away. The wound was strained slightly, but the stitches hadn't torn so she placed the bandage back to his skin. Moving away from him she motioned to the soup and water.

"Hell no." Daryl looked at her suspiciously.

She looked at him as if he were stupid. Then she pointed to the water, miming having a cup and drinking from it before pointing to the soup and miming eating it.

He looked at her like she was insane now that she had just shown him out to drink and eat and wondered what the hell her deal was. He watched as she rolled her eyes at him.

She realized what he thought and couldn't believe he was stupid enough to think that she would waste food and water by poisoning it or something to kill him. If she'd wanted him dead, she would have left him in the woods. Reaching for the water she took a sip of it then grabbed a spoonful of soup and gulped it down. Turning back to look at him, she held her hands out to the side, what more proof did he want?

When Daryl still didn't move to eat or drink, she sighed and left the room, locking it again before walking back down the hallway.

* * *

Returning with a book and a bag of supplies in her hand she unlocked the door and saw him kicked back on the bed, his bowl and glass empty and she smirked slightly. Moving the glass to the tray she put the book in the empty spot next to the bed now and opened it up to a section in the middle before pulling a chair over to the bed.

He watched her as she pulled back the bandage again, discarding it onto the tray before pulling a cotton swab from the bag. She looked at the book before reaching into the bag again pulled out a bottle, setting it on the desk, then reaching back into the bag, pulling out the right one now. She squirted the clear liquid on the cotton swab and began running it over his wound. He asked, "Who are you?"

She looked at him but then went back to what she was doing without answering him. He pushed her hand away, "Answer me."

She scoffed, annoyed at him then pointed to her eye. Then she took one of her hands in the other and pretended like she was lifting the lower one up, then she pointed at him. His face scrunched, "What the hell does that mean?"

She let out an annoyed sigh and pushed his hand away from his wound and began working on it again.

"No. Tell me who the hell you are." He looked her directly in her green eyes.

Her jaw stiffened and she motioned around with her arms, like she didn't know how else to answer him. Then he asked, "Can you not talk?"

She rolled her eyes at him but then he asked her again. She shook her head then pointed to her eye quickly then to her mouth, half mouthing with attitude _I can talk_. He continued with, "Then why the hell don't you?"

He noticed something in her this time, a slight quiver in her lip and she moved his hand away again gently and began working on his cut, yet again. He wanted to be answered, but was gentler in his tone this time, "What, you're tongue get cut out?"

She stuck her tongue out while working, not even bothering to look at him. His constant questions were annoying, but hearing the sound of someone else talking was nice, it'd been over a year since she'd had contact with another living human. He let her work for a moment, and she was glad, the book had said that cleaning the wound and rebandaging was simple.

When she pulled the new bandage from the bag he watched as she squirted some of the first bottle, she'd grabbed on it before placing that side down against his wound. Then she asked, "You holding me hostage?"

She looked at him as if he were crazy and shook her head.

"Then can I leave this damned room?" he asked, he was so bored and need to stretch. She considered it for a moment, then held up a finger. He looked at her, "What?"

She pointed to him then cradled her arms like she was holding a child. He realized what she was asking, "Is it my baby?"

He couldn't help but smile at her face lighting up that he'd understood her. It'd been so long since she'd had a conversation that wasn't filled with pleas and begging. He shook his head, "Nah, it's a friends. He's one."

Her smile was small but content as she stood from the chair, placing everything on the tray. She couldn't believe people were having babies. Well, she could, but not actually wanting them. He watched as she left the room, but this time she didn't shut the door, meaning he was free to walk around.

Slowly he got up, making his way to the door, holding his side. The hallway outside was long but he'd seen her go to the right. Following where she was, he found a make kitchen and living room, power on, running water, the windows were boarded off and barricaded, but she had decorations and bits and bobs that made it a home. Her home, he realized, "Are you by yourself?"

She froze at this question, her hand instinctively going towards her knife. Seeing her do this he put her hands up like she had earlier, showing he wasn't a threat, "I ain't gunna do nothing. Just a question."

Hesitantly she nodded that it was just her. She kept an eye on him though as she cleaned the dishes. When she was done, she brought him over another glass of water.

He was looking at a map on the wall that had places marked off all across the country. Taking the glass of water and sipping it he followed the line back from where they were in Virginia, all the way to the Pacific Ocean, "You're from California?"

She half heartedly shrugged, and he looked at her confused again. She sighed, pointing to where they were then cradled her arms like a baby again, then pointed to Silicon Valley, and formed a house over her head. He thought her understood, "Born here, lived there?"

She nodded again, a smile back to her face. He looked around the place again and wondered, "Did you do all of this?"

A blush went across her face as she nodded and he asked, "How?"

She pointed to herself and then motioned really big then pointed to her head. He clarified, "You're…really smart?"

She nodded and he couldn't help but crack a smile. He couldn't stop himself from asking again, "Why don't you talk."

Her eyes fell again, and she moved away from him, heading back towards the kitchen area. He stepped forward, "I won ask again."

She stopped and bowed her head to him in thanks. He kept his voice low and steady, at times she was like an injured animal that might attack, "Can you at least tell me your name?"

Turning she pointed at him. He motioned to himself and knew what she wanted when she nodded, "Daryl."

She grabbed her car keys and brought them over to him, showing the wood burnt keychain on it saying her name. He looked to her, "Serenity?"

She nodded. He gave her a small smile, "Thanks for saving me Serenity. I won't hurt you, I promise."

He then watched as she covered the _Se_ and _ity_ with her thumbs. He nodded, "You go by Ren."

Nodding again she went back to what she was doing by the sink and he went to relax on the couch, his side actually really hurting.

* * *

 **A/N: New story! Woo! The idea hit me out of no where haha. I know it's just the beginning and there's not a lot going on in this one, but let me know what you guys think!**


	2. Chapter 2

"You need help?" he asked watching her try and lift a bucket of water out of the sink without spilling it while getting caught on the faucet.

She shook her head and pointed to where his wound was and wagged her finger no to him. She didn't know why she was having such trouble getting it out today, she did this all the time. Gently squeezing the bucket together, she did lose some water, but she was able to get the bucket out of it. Lifting it over the edge of the sink he watched as she carried it down the hall and through a door, somewhere he hadn't been allowed to go yet.

He knew there were stairs beyond it, but he still didn't know where they were, what floor they were on, or how many floors there even were. He meandered around for a while until she came back down with an empty bucket and a jar of pickles. She motioned to him then put her hand to her mouth and he nodded, "Yeah, I could eat."

Daryl was beginning to learn her weird way of communicating after only a day. She kept it as simple as possible which made it easy for them. He sat down on the couch while she made them food, knowing better than to try and help. She hadn't let him do anything since he'd left the small room he stayed in. He didn't even know where she slept but doors lined the hallways so he figured it might be one of them.

Bringing over a sandwich on a plate for him, Ren sat down with the bowl of pickles. He looked at her confused, "That all you gunna have?"

She nodded, pointing to the bread of his sandwich and then swung her fingertips at her neck, motioning that she was all out of bread. He nodded, "Thanks. You like pickles?"

Nodding again vigorously he watched as she picked up the slices with her fingers, eating them straight with nothing else. He asked, "You make 'em yourself?"

He watched as she confirmed this again then began eating his food. It was pretty much vegetables, but it was good. They sat in silence for a bit, last night she had turned on the TV and she watched something on DVD he'd never seen before, some type of detective show, but he was glad it wasn't on so he could ask, "How long you gunna keep me here? My friend really needs that stuff."

She motioned to his wound then hooked her two fingers together. He sighed, "So until it starts to heal back together? Ren, I need to take that stuff-"

He stopped when she held up her hand, lowering her bowl. Her face was concentrating, and he tried to figure out what on until he heard quiet clanking. Eyes widening, she tossed the bowl on the table in front of her running for the side stairwell. Daryl was quickly up and following her as best as possible, catching the door before it shut and locked.

Taking the stairs two at a time she headed down into the basement where the pipes for the water were. As she opened the door, she saw a pipe bust in a section and ran to cover it with her hand. Daryl watched as she moved from using her hand to her leg as she reached for a wrench to turn the water off. Stretched to her limit she put the wrench on the bolt as pressure was building up, but she was at to strange of an angle to get any leverage on the tool.

Rushing over Daryl pushed her out of the way and began pushing down on the wrench, using all his strength to get it to turn and once he did the water stopped spurting out of the hole and the pressure began going back down. Turning to look behind him he saw a half-drenched girl looking at him with an annoyed expression. He was confused, "What?"

She pointed at his shirt and he looked down seeing blood on it. Quickly she was unbuttoning the bottom buttons to expose his bandage and when she saw that he'd ripped his stiches and reopened the wound she sighed, shaking her head at him. He couldn't help but feel bad, she'd been working so hard to make sure he got better but at the same time if he hadn't done what he did, the pipes might have actually blown, "I was just helpin. Don look at me like that."

Rolling her eyes at him she pointed to a chair in the corner and he now shook his head and went over to sit in it. He watched as she grabbed a welder and mask, putting the mask on, lighting the butane torch and then sealing the hole that had been created with a spare piece of metal. When she was done, she took the wrench again then turned the water back on and worked as good as new.

He followed her back upstairs and she motioned to the couch where he laid down while she re-stitched his stab wound and they didn't speak at all. When she left to go clean off her tools, she grabbed a map of the area and brought it back to him, pointing to the map then cradling her arms. He looked at her, "You wanna know where the baby is?"

She nodded and he asked, "Why?"

Pointing to herself, then the backpack, then to the map he questioned, "Why are you willin to take the stuff there? You don't know them."

Ren looked at him like he was an idiot and she made a bid deal out of cradling her arms again. It was a damn baby, how the hell could she live with herself not helping it.

Sitting up carefully, so that she didn't shove him back down and not let him move, he took the map then pointed to a spot, "Here, there's a big house that points up over the walls, it's the only house and fields on that road for miles. The bag needs to go to Maggie, it's for her son. You can keep the seeds, payment."

She marked the map where he'd pointed and nodded, folding it back up. Picking up the backpack she motioned to her eye, then to him, then held up two fingers then moved her other hand over it. He wanted to make sure he was right, "See you in two days?"

She shook her head then motioned to make it smaller, "See you tomorrow?"

This time she nodded before grabbing the car keys and heading to the stairs.

* * *

She drove as close as she thought was safe before starting out on foot. Not planning on letting any of them see her she stayed in the tree line watching the farmers out in the fields. It was huge, bigger than any place she'd seen, there were so many people, and she didn't know how she felt about that. She really wasn't planning on letting them see her now. The last time she was around this many people, more than half of them died.

Waiting until nightfall she watched as the guards were only posted at the entrance. She made her way around the side of the wall and climbed up it enough to be able to chuck the backpack over it, a large note on it with Maggies name on it.

* * *

Daryl wandered around the space, he still couldn't pin point exactly what it used to be, but it was sturdy and safe, so that was really all that mattered. He wanted to know more about her though, he didn't think it was right that she was there all by herself, and despite the fact he didn't really want to be out there looking for new people to bring into the communities, she had skills, and she'd saved his life.

Checking every door to see if any were unlocked, he didn't have any luck until he noticed the door by stairwell hadn't shut all the way. He slowly opened the door, still afraid of getting caught despite the fact that it was in the middle of the night and he knew Ren wouldn't be back any time soon, it still felt wrong to him, the girl clearly had secrets.

As he turned on the light, he noticed it must be her room. It was completely decorated, pictures on the walls, knick knacks on the dresser, pillows and comfy looking sheets on the bed. Looking at the images hanging it seemed to be that she used to have a good and happy life, she was smiling in some of them, mostly with people her age. The most prominent figure was of a guy who seemed to be about ten years older than her, he had short, dark brown clean-cut hair, a well-trimmed beard, and tattoos all down one arm. He was in all kinds of pictures with her, ones where she was holding a diploma, ones where they were laughing on beaches or boats. In all of them the two of them looked inseparable and happy.

Moving to the desk he saw a laptop that was asleep. He wasn't sure if it was even on, but he touched the mouse pad and it came alive. It was on a video that had already finished playing. He could see in it that it was the man from the photos on the video. Daryl wasn't sure if he needed to know who this man was, or if he should but into her life like this, but he thought the video might give himself some background on the girl. He clicked the mouse pad, hoping it would make the video play, technology was never his thing. The screen came to life and he watched.

 _"Hey Brainiac, I know you know something bad's going on. I need you to get to a cell tower area or your apartment or something. The worlds going crazy and it started where you're at so I need to know that you're safe alright?"_ The man was in his car driving as he spoke, " _Look, I'm coming to get you. I know it's probably going to take a little bit, but I made sure Dad is at the hospital, they said they'll look after him while I'm gone so don't even think about worrying about him okay? I'm heading to Virginia first though, I'm going to grab the Uncles to come with me. I know they'll help and I'm probably going to need the extra muscle. Wait for me. Do not try and go anywhere. Hunker down in your apartment and don't open the door for anyone unless it's one of us okay?"_ He looked straight into the camera, clearly at a stop light, _"Ren, this is serious, when things like this happen the first people to be taken advantage of are trusting, pretty girls like you. You wait for me. You do exactly as I say until I get there: Don't go out of your way to help anyone that wouldn't die for you. Keep your head down. Don't go to the stores to get supplies, you'll have enough to live off of until we get there. If someone gives you a weird feeling or that you know is bad, get out of there immediately or you hide, got it? And most importantly: DO NOT speak to anyone you don't know. You hear me? Absolutely nobody. I'll be there soon. Love you."_

The video stopped and Daryl didn't move from looking at the screen. He wanted to know what'd happened. If she was there alone now, all the way from California, did he make it to her? The map on the wall looked like the path she'd traveled, from there to here, she wouldn't need to document that if he'd been with her, would she? And if it was of her journey back to Virginia, does that mean that they never made it? That she had made the trek all by herself?

The only thing he knew for certain was that she followed the man's rules as best as she could after so long.

* * *

 **A/N: Thinking of Daryl trying to work a computer made me laugh way more than it really should have for some reason. Let me know what y'all think! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

As a few days passed, the video lingered in Daryl's mind. He couldn't help but think of this poor girl all alone, trying to follow her brothers rules all these years and how hard she must have fought to survive. Watching her as she had a pair of microscope glasses on, soldering something electrical, he couldn't stop himself, "You can come back with me, when I go."

Ren stopped what she was doing and turned to look at him, her eyebrow raised. He tried to explain, "You've got skills, I've seen you fix pipes, wires, a door…me. We could use those skills, if you're willing to come back with me."

She shook her head no. Pointing to herself, then crossing her arms, then like she was holding a bunch of things, he knew she was saying she didn't like groups. He moved over to her, "I didn like them either. But they're family now."

He watched her jaw stiffen at the word _family_ and he hoped he didn't just ruin his chances. Looking down at her he tried one of Ricks lines, "We're stronger together."

Shaking her head again she went back to her electrical chip and finished what she was doing really quick. He watched before she took the glasses of and picked up the now fixed part. Heading to the stairs she waved him over.

This was the first time she was letting him go with her anywhere other than when he'd followed her down the stairs, but this time they went up. Three flights and she was opening a door to the roof. As the sunlight hit him for the first time in a while, it took a moment for his eyes to adjust to it. But when they did, he saw the rooftop had a section of solar panels and the rest of it was transformed into a garden. Looking around he saw that there were other buildings around the one they were in and that they were in a college campus.

She'd blocked off the areas to her building so that only she knew how to get in and out and he noticed there weren't any walkers. As he moved around, he noticed wooden planks that had been made long enough to stretch from rooftop to rooftop and those also had different kinds of plants growing on them. Daryl couldn't believe it, she was completely self-sustaining. She never had to leave if she didn't need too.

He looked back at her as she finished attaching the chip to one of the solar panels and he watched as she pointed to herself then held up her arms flexing then pointed to the ground below her. Nodding he understood, "Yeah, you're strong here…but you could still come."

Ren hated how nice he was sometimes. It was a tempting offer to go with him, to be around people again…people like him again, like she had been before all of this happened. But it wasn't guaranteed that they were all like him. She gave him a small smile and a half nod of thanks before heading across one of the bridges to another roof top. He followed her and watched as she grabbed a bucket and began pulling stalks of wheat off, placing them into the bucket.

Walking over he grabbed another bucket and began doing what she was doing, helping her since he'd had the last of her bread and that's what he assumed she was going to use the wheat to make. They worked together in silence until both buckets were full and he followed her back inside and to the kitchen. Daryl watched as she pulled down what looked to be a mixer, but she'd fashioned blades to it and she began putting the wheat into the bowl, turning it on and making the wheat into flour.

She began looking around in the drawers for things, pulling out salt, and sugar, oil, but then she couldn't find the most important thing. Sighing she stopped this mixer, putting both of her hands on the counter. She'd never gotten what she went out looking for the day she saved Daryl.

He stepped forward curious, "What is it?"

She turned and pointed to herself then stopped, she had no idea how to sign what it is she needed to say. After a brief pause, she grabbed a sticky note and wrote on it: _I don't have yeast._

"I know where to get some." He told her. Ren shook her head, she wasn't going to his community, she still didn't even trust him completely despite the fact he hadn't done anything the whole time he was there. She couldn't risk anything just for some damn bread. He continued despite her head shake, "There's a road of stores not far from where you found me, one was boarded up so everythin should still be in there. C'mon, I'll take you."

She didn't know if she needed bread this bad, so far everything had been on her terms, on her ground, out there it wouldn't be like that. He was already grabbing his crossbow and she sighed, putting her knives on her arms. Daryl stopped seeing them, "What're those?"

Going over to him as she finished strapping them on, she moved her hand to the back of her arm, and he watched as the movement released a blade the length of most of her forearm out of the sheath and when she repeated the movement it retracted. He looked at her, "You make that?"

She nodded and he couldn't help but be impressed, it was an easily concealed weapon that didn't get in her way at all. Once they were both ready, they grabbed the keys to the building and the car and headed downstairs to outside. Daryl was careful to follow her exactly, seeing traps set up between the front door and where she kept her car hidden. He realized she really didn't want to be accidentally stumbled upon.

Daryl directed her where to go as they drove, and he was glad she had better taste in music than Rick did. When they pulled up to the area that he knew about, they got out of the car and he check every corner before they went, making sure everything was safe, he knew she was capable of surviving, but he didn't know how careful he needed to be.

She followed him close, but she made sure to remember every single turn they made so she could make it back to her car if she needed too. When they got to the small grocery store, he lowered his bow and began taking the boards off the door before knocking on it to make sure that any walkers would be right at the door when he opened it, but he had been right, the place was empty. Ren was hesitant to follow him into the place, but she did anyways, mostly because he was in front of her and if he did try something, she could defend herself quickly.

"It's clear." Daryl told her after checking the back office. She nodded, taking her bag off her shoulder and looking for activated yeast, and anything else she might need. Daryl kept an eye on the door but after a while of quiet he told her, "I'mma check for stuff in the other room."

Nodding again she made sure to see where he was going and hopefully be able to see him if he managed to sneak around behind her. Ren went back to looking at the shelves, her eyes looking for that bright yellow package she'd risked way more than she was comfortable with for and when she saw it, she smiled, grabbing every single one. She didn't want to have to make this trip again for a while. Deciding that this was a good place to look for more things she began walking the aisles again, checking for anything that would be useful to her since she never went to the same place twice to get supplies.

Heading around to the back of the counter, she tried to see if she could see Daryl in the back room but she couldn't, and tried to push the distrust from her mind before she heard two voices outside, "Dude, there were like twenty cars out there and we've passed at least a hundred like that one."

"No, I'm telling you, it's her car." The other voice said. Ren ducked down beneath the counter and crawled into the room behind her.

"You're gunna have to let it go, we've been chasing her for two years now." The first man responded.

"No!" The other man yelled, and she could tell they were right at the front door. She covered her mouth to keep her breathing from being to loud and she wasn't sure if her heart had stopped beating or was beating to fast to feel it. "Every day I look in the mirror and see what she did to me, all I think about is skinning that little bitch!"

Daryl came out of the room he was in and saw Ren against the wall, her eyes shut and hands over her mouth and he was next to her in an instant, "Wha-"

Her hand was covering his mouth now and he could see in her eyes, this wasn't the look of a wounded animal that would strike, this was the look of pure, unadulterated fear. The second man spoke again, "C'mon, look around."

Daryl gripped his crossbow tight, but she shook her head at him, her face pleading for him not to do anything. Putting his arm around her back he pulled her in close to him and knew that she just wanted to hide, she didn't want anything to do with these people, whoever they were. He held her tight as he moved them quietly to the small storage room he'd found in the very back of the building.

She couldn't help but let her hand grip the leather of his jacket tightly as they quietly made their way to the back, she wasn't breathing and she knew if she didn't have something to keep her moving, she would freeze.

Opening the door to the room he moved her inside and slowly closed the door. He moved any boxes that were in the room against it so that even if they tried to open it, they couldn't. As he slid the last, and heaviest box into place they heard the second man say, "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" The other man asked.

"It sounded like rustling, or something from back here." The second told him.

Ren backed up to the furthest wall and just stared at the wall of boxes, knowing that if they managed to open that door, they would take the boxes down and she would be found…and so would Daryl. He moved in front of her, blocking her whole body from view as he held up his bow, pointing it at where the door was as they heard the footsteps getting closer and heard a call, "Here little bitch, where are you? Come on out, we just wanna play."

Daryl felt her hands grip at the back of his vest, and he was really beginning to wonder if she knew these guys as she pushed her head into his back. If that was the case and she was this afraid of them then he knew they weren't good people, this was one of her brothers' rules, get away from bad people. He kept his bow steady, she'd saved his life, he wasn't planning on letting anything happen to her, and listened as the steps got closer to where they were.

She was sure she could taste blood with how hard she was biting her lip to keep from making any noise. They'd never been this close to her before, she'd always managed to avoid them, stay hidden, but she'd been in this location for to long and they found her. But she couldn't leave, this had always been her final destination.

"C'mon, it was probably just a rat or something." The first guy said, "Let's grab some stuff and go, it'll be getting dark soon and you know she doesn't move at night."

"If she's been here long enough, she might." The second replied.

"I'm telling you it wasn't her car. She's not here, she's too smart for that and you know it." The first told him, "Look I'm grabbing stuff and going, you want to hunt rats that's on you."

"Fine." The second's voice started going back down the hallway, "But we're going to find her, and I'm going to make that little bitch wish she'd never been born."

Her grip didn't release from Daryl even as their noises left the back of the store, but he lowered his bow and turned to look at her as much as he could with the grip she had. Carefully he reached for her hands, pulling them away from the leather, and he could feel her shaking. He put his arm around her and pulled her head into his chest, whoever those men where she didn't like them at all, and he knew that based on how she was acting, they were hunting her.

Daryl held her until they hadn't heard anything for a while, more quietly than before he moved the boxes away from the door and he turned to her, his voice low and quiet, "I'm going to make sure it's clear from here to the car."

She shook her head hard in objection, her hands reaching out for his arm, gripping it tight. He sighed, "Then stay close."

Ren nodded and followed him closely as he led them out of the store with his crossbow ready if anyone or anything came at them. He took out a walker and as they approached her car, he saw spray painted on the windshield _LITTLE WHORE_.

Her jaw quivered seeing this and he moved around the car making sure that there was no damage to the wheels or anything so they could make it back to her home. When he didn't see anything else out of the ordinary, Daryl walked over to her and moved a lock of hair out of her face, "We'll clean it off tomorrow. Let's go."

She looked up at him and realized that he was different from the others in this new world, that he had protected her when she couldn't protect herself. Her arms wrapped around his waist and she held him tight for a moment, before letting him go and moving to the driver's side.

* * *

 **A/N: I always enjoy a gentle protective Daryl. He used to be like that a lot more before Carol turned into a total badass and I wanted to bring it back a little. Anyways, let me know what you guys think :)**


	4. Chapter 4

Daryl had finished cleaning the paint off of her windshield finally after two days and when he came back inside, he saw that she had packed up some bread and vegetables for him. He smiled, "Thanks. You could still come with me ya know."

She shook her head. He nodded, "Those guys…they were lookin for you weren't they?"

Her eyes lowered to the ground and she nodded, he'd already known but having her acknowledge it made him want to know what happened, in case she changed her mind and decided to turn up at Hilltop. He asked, "Is it just them?"

She shook her head and held up seven fingers. He then asked, "What happened?"

She hated thinking about it, she didn't want to think about it, what had happened, what all they had done…what she'd done to get away… Everything from that time made her want to vomit. Daryl saw how pale her skin had gotten, he realized he shouldn't have asked. He reached his hand out to put it on her shoulder and for the first time in a week she flinched away from him and he pulled away, "Nevermind."

Moving away from him she grabbed a map that had a marker on it for where they were and where Hilltop was, so he knew where to go, and she handed it to him. He understood and took the map and bag she had packed for him before grabbing his bow and heading for the door.

Ren followed him to the door and once he was through it, she took her necklace of keys off, locking the door, alone again.

* * *

It took him a while walking but he made it to Hilltop and heard the people on watch calling out to the others inside. As he walked in the gates Rick, Michonne, Carol, and Maggie came up to him. Rick looked at him, "Where have you been? Are you alright?"

"Yeah we got this note sayin you were hurt." Maggie followed up.

"A note?" Daryl asked.

"Yeah, we've been out looking for you every day since." Michonne said as Maggie handed him the note. It was Ren's hand writing.

 _This stuff is for Maggie from Daryl. He got hurt while out. I'm taking care of him, he'll be back soon. Good luck with your son._

He couldn't help but let out a slight laugh, that girl actually cared about people as much as she tried not to. He'd realized that's why she didn't want to come back with him, because then those guys hunting her might cause trouble for them, and she knew there was a baby here. Rick looked at him, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, no big deal. Fine now." He shrugged looking at them.

"Then why were you gone for so long?" Carol asked, "Were they holding you or something?"

"What? Nah!" Daryl looked at her, "Just wanted to make sure I was alright."

"Were they good people?" Michonne asked. "The type we would want?"

Daryl didn't know how to answer, he thought she was, but clearly, he still didn't know everything about her to know for sure. He just sort of shrugged at them again, "Didn want to come."

He didn't want to answer anymore of their questions, he felt kind of bad leaving her there all alone with no real protection with those guys out there looking for her, but he wasn't going to stay there with her when he had people here waiting for him. He walked over to the campers, the place he normally stayed while in Hilltop and went into his bag, his stomach somewhat growling. Reaching in he pulled out the only thing she'd packed him that he hadn't eaten, pickles.

Carol came over to him, "They packed you food too?"

"Yeah." He answered, looking at the bag in his hand.

"Daryl." Carol looked down at him, "What happened out there?"

"Nothin. Got stabbed, stitched up, then sent on my way." He forced himself to open the bag and pulled one out.

"Then why did you get that look when you read the note? And the other look when you said those people didn't want to come?" She sat down next to him, "You know I'm not an idiot."

"Never said you were." He said through chews.

"What aren't you telling us." Carol said, "Is it something we need to worry about?"

"Nah." He shook his head, "She won't do nothin to us."

"She?" Carol raised an eyebrow with a smirk.

"Stop." He didn't look at her.

"What? I'm just reading between the lines." She defended, a teasing smile still on her face.

"Ain't no lines to read between." He turned away from her, finishing his last pickle. "She saved me, stitched me up, then I left, that was is."

"Alright, if you say so. Just know that if it was more then that, it's alright too." Carol grinned at him.

"Shut it."

* * *

The water pipe had bust in another place and she was working quickly to try and bring the water pressure down before it completely exploded. She held a piece of metal to the leak and tried reaching for the wrench, but it kept slipping out of her wet fingers.

He'd only been there a week, but Ren now saw the usefulness of having someone else around, sometimes fixing things was a two-man job. The two days he'd been gone were a painful example of that.

Deciding screw the leak, she went for the wrench and stuck it on the bolt, gripping it as best as she could to get the water off. Using every muscle she had she let out a yell as the bolt finally turned and water stopped flooding on to the floor.

Sitting down on the chair she looked at the pipes, they needed some real maintenance, she needed other pipes to replace these. She couldn't risk going out again so soon. She knew those guys had gone back, more of them this time, and seen that her car was gone, that she was in the area, she just knew it. She wouldn't be able to leave the campus for at least a month because they would stay in the area to keep looking for her, hopefully after that they would move on.

Grabbing her mask and welder she sat down and fixed the piece over the hole but before she turned the water back on, she used the wrench to tap on the pipes, seeing if there were any places that sounded like they were going to go bad so she could try and reinforce them before they did.

After a few hours work and turning the water back on she went up stairs to her living room and landed on the couch. She was exhausted. She'd never tried to fix or upgrade anything like that before it broke. Her eyes were to heavy to even warrant getting up and getting something to eat.

* * *

 _"Come on, there's got to be a quicker way to get to Virginia than this." Becca said, her foot propped up on the dash._

 _"Hammond sent me a picture of the path he was taking, that's what were following only backwards." She told her friend, "Plus I mean, at least we're staying out of the way of tornados?"_

 _"But it's Utah, nothing interesting is in Utah." Becca groaned._

 _"Uh, tell that to the Great Salt Lake." Ren laughed at her, "Don't get a name like that without being interesting."_

 _"Yeah I guess, but according to your map we aren't going anywhere near it." Becca looked over at her._

 _"Never said you'd get to see it, just that it's considered interesting." Ren grinned._

 _"Bitch." Becca laughed, "Virginia better be worth it."_

 _"It's better than an entire city of munchers. It has to be." Ren looked out the window, cars abandoned on the highway, the random muncher every now and then in view. "I mean it's where most of the government is, they'll have to keep the people safe there right?"_

 _"I don't know. We lost signal for everything so early on that I don't even know how far it spread. For all we know it could be the whole world." Becca told her._

 _"Yeah but I mean if a computer virus can't even spread across the whole world, there's no way a biological one can, not with deserts and oceans and stuff like that right?" Ren looked over at her, not knowing why she thought her friend, a code writer would know._

 _"Sounds convincing enough for me." Becca shrugged. As the car moved on the road, Ren slowed down to avoid hitting cars that were in their path. They heard a pop followed by a thumping noise and Ren slowed to a stop. "What happened?"_

 _"I don't know, sounds like a tire maybe?" Ren answered undoing her seatbelt._

 _"Do you know how to change a tire?" Becca asked getting out with her._

 _"If it tells me how to in the car manual." Ren laughed and watched as Becca reached back into the car for the manual in the glove box. She started flipping through while Ren looked at the passenger's side front wheel that was entirely shredded._

 _"Hey look, there's someone coming that might be able to help us." Becca pointed down the road to a truck maneuvering through the cars._

 _"You know I already don't like that." Ren said looking down at the tire again, spotting something in the thread._

 _"Oh come on, not everyone is bad, those people that helped us get out of the city were fine." She waved the car down._

 _"Hey there, you ladies need some help?" An older man rolled down the window of the truck._

 _"Yeah, we got a flat tire." Becca told him._

 _"Becca, stop it." Ren hissed as her fingers pulled at the metal in the tire._

 _"We'd love to help." The driver got out of the truck, followed by three other men younger than him, more around their age._

 _"Thanks, we really appreciate it." Becca said with a smile as Ren pulled out a piece of metal that had been sharpened to a small blade._

 _"Our pleasure." One of the passengers said before striking Becca across the face with the back side of his hand._

 _"Ren run!" Becca yelled out as she tried to get away too, but two men already had her by the waist and arms._

 _Ren got to her feet as fast as possible and slid in between two cars that were next to her. She began running towards the brush. It wasn't that high, but she might be able to hide in it if she made it in time. As she ran, she saw two more men come out of the brush coming towards her and she stopped, looking around trying to figure out what to do. She started to run to the right, she saw a small group of munchers there, but hopefully the men wouldn't follow her towards them._

 _She should have known she'd be wrong as she felt someone tackle her to the ground. She fought and struggled against the weight on top of her and soon another body joined it. She heard one of the men say, "Damn, she's a fighter."_

 _"Don't worry, little girl." Another one said kneeling down by her face, "We just wanna play."_

 _She felt a cloth go over her mouth and nose. It was a sweet chemical smell, but it didn't last long as she passed out._

* * *

Ren bolted up out of her sleep, sweat drenching her body as she fought for air. She was shaking, the dream had been just as real as when it actually happened. Getting up from the couch she went to the bathroom and splashed some water on her face before going into her bedroom to peel the drenched fabric from her skin.

Looking over at the wall her eyes landed on a picture of her and Becca at the beach, her friends long blonde hair flowing in the breeze. Her fingers ghosted over the image as a small but sad smile formed over her face.

* * *

 **A/N: Yes, there will be flashbacks and stuff in this and they will always be segments in _italics_ so you can tell them apart, I'm not a fan of making people think that they're reading reality when they're not haha it always gets my hopes up then makes me mad when I realize it's a dream or something haha. But anyways let me know what you guys think! I love reviews and stuff!**


	5. Chapter 5

"What are you saying?" Rick asked Eugene.

"I am saying that while I potentially hold the knowledge to fix the solar panels that are malfunctioning, I do not have the tools nor the equipment too." The man answered back.

"How many down does that put us?" Daryl asked.

"We have a functioning four out of twelve." Eugene answered.

"Is that enough to power the neighborhood?" Rick asked him.

"No, we've already lost power in a quarter of the place." Negan answered wiping his hands off, "Just had to save Ms. Nelsons coffee."

"Wouldn't be no damn problem you didn blow 'em up." Daryl rolled his eyes at the man, he didn't like that he was there, he still thinks Rick should have killed him or dropped him off in the middle of nowhere three states away, but he was able to convince the other Saviors to fall in line and become a part of the communities and provided a decent hand around Alexandria.

Rick rubbed his beard, "Well, what are we gunna do then?"

"If we could find some soldering supplies and a computer chip or two, I might be able to rig us up something." Eugene said. "I do not know how long it'll last, but it'll give us back some power so that Ms. Nelson could continue her caffeine addiction."

"We need something more permanent." Rick said leaning against the banister of the porch.

Daryl hated himself, it'd been a month, "I might be able to get some help."

"What?" Rick looked at him.

"I know someone…someone that can fix it." He motioned to the solar panels.

"You mean the person that helped you when you got hurt?" Rick asked and Daryl nodded, "You said they didn't want to come here though."

"Nah, but if I ask nicely…maybe." Daryl couldn't believe he was about to go and bother her, potentially get her in trouble, but he'd been worried about Ren since the day he left, he'd been looking for an excuse to go check and make sure those guys hadn't found her. "I'mma need some pickles though."

"I think Kingdom has some." Negan told him. "Need someone to go with you?"

Daryl shook his head, Negan definitely wasn't going with him, "If there's anyone but me, she won't open up."

He turned and walked away heading towards his bike and Rick caught up to him, "Hey, you really think this is safe?"

"She saved my life." Daryl turned to look at him, "If she wanted to hurt me, she could have left me there to die."

"Yeah but you haven't told us anything about this person yet, I just now found out it was a girl." Rick told him.

"Cause she needs to stay safe. Bringing her here, she might not be." Daryl eyed Negan still on the porch.

"He won't do anything. He's a part of this place now." Rick told him, "You know that, he helped get stuff for Herschel when he was first born."

"Yeah, but she don't like bad people." Daryl told him, "I'mma go to Kingdom, then head to where she is, try and convince her to fix the panels, I've seen her do it before."

"At least tell me where it's at. So if you don't show up after two days or so, we can look for you in the right spot this time." Rick pleaded.

"Nah, I ain't gunna give her away like that." Daryl got on his bike and started it, "I'll be back soon, she won't hurt me."

Negan walked over to Rick as Daryl rode away, "You think he's getting some from her?"

"Who? Daryl? I don't think so." Rick shook his head as the gates closed.

* * *

Smiling at the sprouts from the seeds she'd gotten from Daryl, Ren wiped the sweat from her forehead. Standing up she used a smaller cup to get water from her bucket before moving back over to the sprouts, putting enough water on them to give them what they needed, but not drown them. Gardening was a science, and she thought that she'd finally mastered it.

Wiping her hands on her shorts she took the empty cup back to the bucket, but when she heard a loud engine entering the campus, she hit the deck, scraping her knee in the process. Crawling over to the edge of the building she tried to see who it was. When the rider came into view, she couldn't see his face because of the bandana, but when he turned towards her main building, she saw torn angel wings on his vest, and she couldn't stop the smile on her face.

She still stayed low, just in case it was someone that took his vest, or that he'd told where she was but as she moved over a bridge between buildings, she saw him lower the bandana, and wave for her to come down. It was Daryl, and she moved a little faster.

Going into the main building she went down the stairs to the front entrance and when she opened the door he was standing there, waiting for her and she almost leaped into his arms, hugging him. He couldn't help but smile, seeing that she was okay and still there, and hugged her back. As she backed away from him, he said, "I'd almost think you missed me."

She held up her index finger and thumb, the two slightly apart and he looked down at her, a smirk tugging at his lips.

"You miss having someone to talk to?" He asked.

Ren rolled her eyes, but it was quickly replaced by a questioning face, as to why he was back and he deflected, noticing her knee, "You're bleeding."

Looking down she noticed the blood running down her leg and held the door for him to come in and he stopped her before she could take the stairs, "C'mon."

She turned and before she could object, he scooped her up into his arms so that she wasn't walking on her leg, he wasn't sure how bad it actually was, and he didn't want to have made her hurt herself _and_ be there to ask her to leave. She was very confused by this, but his secure grip made her relax slightly as he took her up the flight of stairs to her living room.

Sitting her down on the kitchen counter he asked, "Where's the kit?"

She pointed to a drawer and he opened it up, pulling out her supplies. When he turned around and opened the box, she took it from him, shaking her head at him, motioning that she could do this herself. She pulled her foot up onto the counter and began wiping the blood off of her leg so she could see all the areas it came from.

Daryl couldn't help but notice that she looked good, those guys must not have found her here. He had half been afraid that he'd get here, and she'd be gone, but he was more afraid that he'd get here and find her dead, or worse. They were quiet as she put a bandage on her leg after getting a small pebble out of it. When she was done, she hopped down from the counter. He moved in close to her and wrapped his arms around her, tightly. She wasn't sure how to respond at first but as he held her, she wrapped hers back around him. He said, "You doin alright here?"

She nodded.

"Those guys leave you alone?"

She nodded again.

"Good." He said letting her go. He moved over to his bag that he'd set down and pulled out the pickles, "Brought somethin."

Her eyes lit up at it, the batch she had wouldn't be done for another two days. Smiling, taking the jar from him she bowed her head in thanks before putting it on the counter then turning to him, pointing at him, then the building around them then holding out her arms.

He sighed, "I'm sorry."

Her eyes grew wide, why was he sorry? What had he done? Her hand instinctually moved to her hip where her knife was and he held up his hands, "It ain't like that. We need help, someone smart, like you."

Ren looked at him confused and he told her about the panels and what was happening in Alexandria. He finished with, "We didn know where to go get the stuff, and our guy don't think he'll be able to fix it. I've seen you do it. I know power ain't life or death, but we use it for the cars, and food. I didn want to bother you. You said you didn want to come with me…"

She nodded understanding, it was his job to at least ask her to come and take a look. This wasn't the place that she had been before, he had called it something different. Reaching in a drawer she pulled out a map and motioned for him to point at where it was. He studied it for a minute before pointing at a neighborhood.

Daryl watched and she knew she was trying to decide what to do. She looked at him and cradled her arms again then pointed to where Alexandria was. "Yeah, we got kids there."

She was glad he'd gotten to the point to where he understood most of her way of speaking as she pointed to her eyes, then the map but then to her head, shaking it, then motioning like she was working with a screw driver.

He repeated like always with her longer ones, "You can look, but you aint sure you can fix it?"

She nodded.

"Alright. That's more than enough." He said, "We can leave now if you want, the sooner you look the sooner you can be back here."

Ren sighed and nodded. She grabbed his arm then motioned like she was revving a bike, her face unsure if what she was asking was okay.

"Yeah, we can take the bike." He said as they headed back for the door, "It's probably safer for you that way."

* * *

She held tight to him during the bike ride, her face mostly pressed into his back since she didn't have anything to cover her eyes. As they pulled up to Alexandria, Daryl felt her grip on him tighten as she saw the guards on the wall. He yelled over the bike engine, "Don worry, no ones gunna hurt you, I promise."

She nodded as he moved through the gates and he put the bike up on it's kick stand. As she got off, she stayed behind him as three people approached them, an African American woman with dreads, a man with salt and pepper hair with a beard to match, and a bigger guy with a mullet going into a braid.

Daryl let her stay behind him, "These are Michonne, Rick, and Eugene. They're good people. This is Ren. She don't talk."

"Ren." Rick smiled, "It's nice to meet you. I'm glad Daryl managed to convince you to take a look at our little problem."

"Yeah we really appreciate it." Michonne smiled warmly at her.

She nodded slightly at them, still not sure about why the hell she left her damn dorm building at all, she'd never really had anxiety before, but she couldn't trust these people. Eugene stepped forward, "These solar panels require a specific set of skills. You can not just go tinkering with them as if they were an xbox or playstation to go for virtual joy rides on. Do you have the skills to be able to accurately tell what is wrong and fix said issues?"

Furrowing her brows, she looked up at Daryl. He looked didn't really know what to tell her, "It's normal for him." He then turned to Eugene, "I've seen her fix one before. She's here to look and see if she can."

"Good because if she messes it up beyond repair then we are up an electrical creek without a paddle and that would strain the rest of our panels more than a rubber band around a watermelon." Eugene said.

Ren looked so confused by this man that she thought he couldn't really be like this, and if he was, she definitely didn't have to worry about him trying to hurt her, she could just kill him while he was talking. Michonne looked at her, "How about we just show you the solar panels?"

"It's alright." Daryl motioned as Michonne started walking away, "I'll be over."

She nodded and slowly followed Michonne over to where the panels were. There were so many people in this place…and they all looked happy. Maybe Daryl had been right, maybe this was a good place, a safe place. She could however still see scorch marks on houses, and a chapel being rebuilt. Something had happened here though. As she passed by a grave yard, she went back to her original thought, this wasn't a safe place at all.

As they approached the panels, she noticed they weren't in the best spot for getting all the power they could. Maybe this was as far as the wires they had would go. She would have to ask once Daryl came over. Michonne pointed, "It's these eight that aren't working."

Ren nodded and knelt down behind one, using her knife to pop the back off of the board and see what was going on inside of it. Looking at it, it seemed to be from extreme heat exposure, in this one at least. She would have to check the others, but she could reroute to other parts of the board.

* * *

Negan walked over to Rick and Daryl who were talking and noticed Michonne over at the solar panels. He asked Daryl with a grin, "You bring the girl back?"

"You don't get near her." He pointed at the man.

"Oh, come on Daryl!" He patted him on the back, "It's not like that anymore."

He started to walk towards the solar panels to talk to her, but Daryl put a hand over his chest, "No, _you_ _don't_ go near her."

Negans eyes grew wide as the girl stood up from behind the panel and he saw her face, "Ren?"

* * *

 **A/N: Yup, so Negan is a part of the group now haha, I figure in this version Rick didn't slash his throat instead convincing him that they could work together and that the Saviors integrated into the other communities, meaning the whole bridge thing never happened, meaning Rick never dies. I know it's kinda a crazy line of events but it works in my brain haha. Let me know what you guys think :)**


	6. Chapter 6

"The hell'd you just say?" Daryl asked.

"Serenity!" Negan yelled across the way, getting her attention.

Michonne and Ren looked over at the voice and her eyes grew wide seeing him. She dropped her knife and her legs moved faster than they had in a while as she ran to him, leaping into his arms, wrapping her legs around him just like she did when she was little. He led her tight, tears in his eyes, "Ren, oh god, I thought…"

He set her down on the ground and held her shoulders looking her over. Daryl was among the most confused out of everyone. Negan looked at her, "Are you okay? How did you get here? Hammond…he…"

Her eyes grew wide, then started looking around, was he there too?

Negan shook his head, "Oh god, I'm so sorry. Ren…he isn't here…he didn't make it."

She stopped breathing. What did he mean? Her brain couldn't comprehend it.

"He got bit." Negan said, "Right before we were going to leave to get you. He got bit Ren. I had to...to…I'm so sorry."

She shook her head as his eyes watered. She wouldn't believe it, he couldn't be dead. Not after everything. Daryl watched her as her skin went pale and she started backing away from Negan, her face trying not to cry. He'd put the pieces together, he knew who Hammond was.

Ren turned, she needed something, something to focus on, and the closest thing was the solar panels, it had been the same when her mother died, she'd locked herself in her room to rebuild an old computer. Daryl reached for her arm, but she pulled it away from him, the look in her eyes of pure pain as she tried to make it over to the panels. Negan followed her despite this and tried reaching out for her, but she shoved him away.

He tried again and she pushed him harder, back on to the ground. Now she started walking towards the gate, she didn't want to be here. She just wanted to go home, but she didn't even know where that was anymore. The home she'd left she couldn't get back to and had lost her best friend on the way…and the home she'd always known was dead.

She felt arms wrap around her waist as Negan tried to stop her once again and everyone watched as she struggled against him, her fists hitting his legs, but he didn't let her go. Tears poured from her eyes as she fought but he'd always been stronger than she was, even after all the muscle she'd gained, after how hard she'd worked to get back to her brother, she was still weaker than her uncle.

Her legs gave out as it hit her that he was gone, that her brother was dead, that she would never see him, and that everything was in vain, he'd died before she'd even left California. Negan cradled her down to the ground as she sobbed now.

The first sound Daryl had ever heard her make was the wail of sorrow she let out as she cried.

* * *

She stayed where she was, wrapped in Negans arms until she wasn't able to cry anymore. Ren knew she had to get up, but she couldn't. Daryl stayed where he was, watching her, but as he saw her chest heave with a broken breath he left to go to his home. He didn't know what to say to her. When he returned, he went over to them.

A bottle of water entered her vision with a sticky note that read _DRINK SLOW_ on it. Negan released some of the tightness he held on her as she reached for the bottle. Her eyes looked up and she saw Daryl staring down at her, a sad look on his face. Her hand shook as she took it and he knelt down to be at her level, holding the bottle with her and unscrewing the lid for her. He kept his hands near it as she sipped it, her throat was really dry, and it was already a hot day out.

When she was done drinking, she held her hand out to him and he took it, helping her up. Ren looked over her shoulder at Negan. The man looked back at her and her eyes dropped back to the ground. She began walking back towards the panels. Daryl moved in front of her, gently stopping her, "You sure?"

She nodded, a sad smile on her face. He watched as she moved back over to where her knife was and began looking at the next broken panel.

Rick came over to Negan and Daryl, "Someone wanna clue me in?"

"Ren…Ren is my niece." Negan told him, "She's so goddamn smart. She has a master's in computer engineering and electrical engineering. She graduated from high school when she was fifteen. Fifteen can you believe it?" Negan laughed to himself, "Smartest damn thing in our whole family. Never found something she couldn't learn, except maybe more artistic stuff. My brother was in a bad car accident that made it to where he wasn't fit to take care of her when she was twelve. Ren and her brother were attached at the hip, so Hammond became her guardian, so she didn't have to move away from him. When she was nineteen though she moved to California to finish her masters and got an amazing job. We were all so proud. She was able to pay for any medical treatment her dad needed, and Hammond stayed in Philadelphia with him to make sure he got it. When the world went to shit…his first thought was to get to his baby sister. Carl reminded me of him." Negan looked at Rick, "He was tough, he never let the world drag him down, a fighter. But Ren…well she was everyone's weak spot in the family, we always took care of her. She was the youngest…he died trying to get to her. And I gave up on it after that…I thought if he couldn't make it…" His voice cracked as he watched Ren looking at another panel, "How could she?"

"She made it." Daryl said, "She saved my life. She's as tough as they come."

He walked away from them, going to check on Ren, not even bothering to look at the man still sitting on the ground. When he made it over to her, she looked up at him and he knelt down to be level with her. He wiped a way a tear stain on her cheek and asked, "You alright?"

She looked away form him and half shrugged. Ren guessed deep down she'd known it, that her brother was gone, that that's why he never made it to California. She'd refused to believe it. Hammond wouldn't just die, not before he knew she was okay, that's not how he was. But she was mad at her uncle, he'd let Hammond die, he'd abandoned her. They'd been preparing to leave, and he just quit once her brother was dead. If he'd come…then she would have been safe with him.

"Can you fix them?" Daryl asked, hoping that she could, that he didn't bring her here for nothing…that she didn't have to go back to her home alone and deal with what she'd just found out. When Merle died, at least he had his friends.

Ren nodded. It wouldn't be that hard, she needed her tools though. She motioned this to him, and he stood up, offering her his hand again and she stood following him to where Rick, Michonne, and Negan were. Daryl told them, "She can fix 'em. But the tools she needs are at her place."

"I'll take you there." Negan said, stepping towards Ren.

She shook her head, moving her hand to Daryls arm.

"Ren, please, we need to talk." Negan looked down at her.

"She don't talk." Daryl told him.

"What?" Negan asked his eyes wide, "Why? Did someone hurt you?"

She pulled out of his reach as he tried to look inside of her mouth and moved around to Daryls other side where he couldn't get to her. She pointed at herself, shook her head before pointing at it, then to Negan. The man looked at her confused and Daryl told him, "She said I don't know you."

"What?" Negan's face fell.

She turned from him and started walking to Daryls bike and Daryl followed her with Rick next to him, "We should be able to make it back tonight, but if it gets to late, we'll probably stay there. She don't like moving at night."

"Sounds good." Rick nodded. As they got to the bike Rick looked at her, "Ren, thank you for doing this. What would you like in return?"

She cocked her head to the side, a question on her face.

Rick smiled, "We don't expect you to work for free, in fact some of our friends in other communities might benefit from your help. So if there's something you need, then we'll trade it for your work."

She nodded before she motioned writing on her hand and shrugged. Daryl looked at Rick, "She'll make a list. She don't know what all we got."

"Sounds good." Rick gave her a warm smile, "You two travel safe."

They got on the bike and Negan watched as Ren wrapped her arms around Daryl, holding on as he rode out of the gates. Rick walked back over to him, a smirk on his face, "Regretting asking if I thought he was getting some from her?"

"Prick." Negan said, watching the gates close.

* * *

Ren unlocked the door and started up the stairs as Daryl was leaning his bike against the fence, keeping it hidden from prying eyes. She opened the door to her main living space and as she passed by her room, she was slammed into the wall next to her, a gun in her face. Her eyes went wide seeing a man with his face half burnt, an eye barely able to be opened, the scarring went down his neck and she could see it on his hand too.

He had her by the neck as he pinned her to the wall, a sadistic smile on his face, "Well, well, well. Look who's been here this whole time. I told the others you were somewhere around here. I remembered your little fucking map."

Her eyes welled with tears as his face got closer to hers, she tried to push him away from her, but he was stronger than before and he slammed her back into the wall, making her head hurt. She managed to get her knife off her hip and slashed out at the arm that was holding her and she hit skin, the man letting out a yell as he slammed her harder into the wall again, making her drop the knife.

"Get away from her!" Daryl yelled as he came in the doorway, bow pointed at the man, but the guy pulled her from the wall, his hand still on her throat, holding her body against his as a shield, the gun against her temple.

"Oh, look at that the little whore has a friend." The man spoke in her ear. She flinched as the man pulled her tighter to him, "You were so stingy before, weren't you Ren?"

Daryl could see her fingers trying to get the mans hand off of her neck, but she couldn't, she was mostly just scratching her own skin, panicking. He growled at the man, "I'm gunna kill you if you don't let her go."

"I'm not letting this bitch go. You see what she did to me!" The man yelled, his voice deafening in one of her ears, "No, I'm going to have my fun with her, she loved it when we used to play," She cringed, her body stiffening as the man licked her face, "Then I'm going to kill her slowly. Finally make her scream."

Daryl moved in closer to the two of them, his anger boiling seeing her with tears in her eyes, body shaking in fear. This asshole was barley poking his head out from behind hers, Daryl could only see one of his eyes, and it would be a close call if he fired.

The man laughed, "You're considering it aren't you? Still shooting me despite the fact that you might shoot her too. Do you trust yourself that much with this beautiful young life?"

He didn't answer, focusing on trying to get a shot while also making keeping his eye on Ren, if she moved at all, he would kill her. He asked her, "You trust me?"

"You barely even trust yourself, so I doubt you trust this man enough to shoot me with you this close?" The man smiled against her ear.

Ren looked at Daryl, his face was focused on the two of them, his hands were steady, he wasn't shaking like she was. She tried to calm herself down, knowing that her shaking wasn't helping him. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes, if he missed, then she wouldn't see it coming at least, and she wouldn't have to live with this guy touching her for another minute. She heard him ask again, "Ren, do you trust me?"

"Yes."

* * *

 **A/N: Be sure to let me know what you guys think!**


	7. Chapter 7

The arrow whizzed past her ear and the guy fell back, her hand pushing the gun away from her head as he fell, a bullet ringing out. Daryl rushed to grab her before she fell forward and he held her in his arms, "Did it hit you?"

She shook her head as he looked to make sure that the bullet hadn't hit her despite what she was saying. Ren wrapped her arms around him, holding him tight, "Is…is he…"

"Yeah, he's dead." He put an arm around her, his hand running over her hair, and felt her relax, despite her grip on him.

"I'm sorry." She muttered tears leaving her eyes.

He dropped his bow completely and held her tight as she cried, she felt so tiny in his arms and he wasn't quite sure what to do other than this. He held her shaking body and muttered, "You ain't got nothin to apologize about."

"He's dead." She gripped him tighter, her words broken up by tears and sniffles, "They'll look for him. They'll destroy anything to find out what happened to him."

"I'll kill them too then." He told her. These men weren't good, she'd clearly had a horrible experience with them before, and he didn't want to imagine what that entailed, even with what the man had said. "I won't let nothin hurt you."

"Why?" Ren looked up at him with big glossy eyes.

He wiped away the tears on her face, "Cause you don't deserve to have to deal with people like them."

"How…how do you know I don't deserve it?" She looked back at the man's body, shame in her eyes.

"I…I saw the video." Daryl told her, "I wanted to know if I could trust takin' you back to my people. I saw your brother tell you to run away and hide from bad people. That's what you've been doin with them ain't it? And if you did that to him," He pointed at the burn marks, "Then he deserved it. Don feel guilty about it if it saved your life."

It had saved her life, but it hadn't just hurt him. She didn't want to tell him that though, so instead she just nodded.

"You alright to stand up?" He asked. She nodded again and as he helped her up, she stumbled, holding onto her head. He looked, "He got you good huh?"

She nodded again and he looked down at her, "You gunna stop talkin to me again?"

"No. I'm just not used to it." She told him, "Thank you, by the way, for saving me."

"You saved me first." He told her, "Can you move around to get the stuff you need? I can get him out of here."

"Yeah, I should be alright." She answered and Daryl slowly let go of her to let her stand on her own.

"Was the door unlocked?" He asked and she shook her head, "Then how the hell'd he get in here?"

"I don't know, maybe he broke in a window down stairs…but he must be alone, they always travel with someone else if it's something they'd all agreed on." She wrapped her arms around herself looking down at the body, "It sounded like Joe wanted to give up the search for me here, but Leon didn't, so he must have gone off on his own to find me, or else another would have shown up by now."

"That's good." He said grabbing Leons legs, "I'll hide him well so if they come by here, they don find him."

"Thanks." Ren watched as Daryl dragged her attacker out. Looking around, taking her eyes away from the blood that pooled on the floor, she slowly made her way to her work desk where her tools were. Distracting herself from what just happened, the throbbing in her head and the stinging on her neck, she went through the process for fixing the panels one by one in her head, making sure to grab everything she would need.

Some of the items, like plyers, she thought they might have in Alexandria, but she'd rather be safe than sorry. While she worked, she tried thinking of things that she might need from them, they said it was a trade, but she was pretty well off. Hearing the door shut down the hallway she reached for her knife just in case, but realized it was still where it had fallen. Picking up a screw driver instead she relaxed when Daryl came around the corner.

"Just me." He told her, seeing the screw driver in her hand, "How long is it gunna take you to fix the panels?"

"I don't know. Probably about a day each depending on the status of the internal wiring. If they were damaged past the sheaths then I'll have to rewire them completely." She told him, "Also, you don't have them put in the best places to get the most sun which could limit your power when storm seasons and winter hits."

"Can you help there too?" He asked.

"Wouldn't have said anything if I couldn't." She gave him a small smile.

"Still shocked your sayin anything." He told her with a hidden grin. "Do you need to pack clothes?"

She stopped moving, realizing that he expected her to stay over night there. Her eyes lowered, "Would it be possible for me to come back here at night?"

"Yeah." He told her, "I'll bring you back, just figured it might take you longer."

"It might…but the plants up stairs need to be watered and the tomatoes are almost ready for harvest. Plus the pipes…" She rambled.

"And you don trust us." He knew that was the real reason.

"I trust you." She peeked up at him, "But I don't know them."

"You barely know me." Daryl said.

"I know enough, as much as is important now."

He nodded, "Stay tonight, there's a room right next to mine, door locks so no one can come in. See how you feel after that. Don stay here tonight."

She caught sight of the blood pool behind him and he knew why he didn't want her here. She nodded, "Al-alright. Let me grab an outfit and turn off the pipes just in case."

"Kay." He watched her walk slowly and carefully to her room. Moving to the doorway he watched as she caught herself from falling as she bent over to get into her dresser and he knew she needed to see a doctor for her head wound, he also knew that she wouldn't be safe on the back of his bike, "We should take your car, he might've seen it and that's why he broke in. If it's inside Alexandria, they won find it."

"Yeah, okay." She agreed, putting her bag on her back now that she had clothes. She also liked this idea because then she could just get in her car and leave if she wanted, she wouldn't be stuck walking defenseless for hours to get back to her home. _Defenseless_. Looking at her desk she saw her arm blades and took her back pack off, she put them in her bag and as she put the bag back on, she saw Daryl looking at her from the doorway, "No offense."

He held his hands up, "Nah, I get it. C'mon, let's go deal with the pipes."

* * *

When they returned to Alexandria, she was greeted by her uncle, who saw the marks on her neck, "What the hell happened?"

She pushed him away, gentler than she had earlier in the day and shook her head. Negan then looked at Daryl, "You do this to her?!"

"What the fuck?" Daryl yelled getting out of the car, "You serious man?"

Negan started moving towards Daryl, but Ren stepped in front of him, putting her hand on his chest. Looking her uncle in the eye she shook her head. Pointing at Daryl, she then pretended she was holding a shield, then pointed to herself. Negan was confused, "What?"

"She's saying I saved her." Daryl grabbed her bag from the car, "C'mon Ren, you need to see Saddiq."

She cocked her head to the side following him as he went, and he explained, "For your head and neck. He's our doctor."

Ren stopped walking. She didn't want to see a doctor. Daryl turned and saw her no longer moving, her eyes on the ground in front of her. He walked back over to her, "What is it?"

She shook her head, her voice a whisper, "No doctors."

"Saddiqs a good guy." He put his hand on her shoulder, "You could take him."

She let out a soft laugh, "Will you stay?"

He told her, "Whole time."

Ren nodded and they headed for the medical house. There weren't as many people out now since it was getting dark and she felt slightly more at ease. She could hear Negan following them, but she didn't care. She was going to have to deal with the fact that he'd abandoned her and killed her brother at some point, but that point was not right now.

Daryl opened the door and called out for the doctor and she waited, feeling like the middle of an oreo between him and her uncle. When the man came out, he smiled at her, "You must be our saving grace. I'm Saddiq."

"Ren." Daryl said for her, "She got slammed against a wall and scratched up pretty good."

"I can take a look." He motioned for her to go and sit down in one of the chairs, "Was it from a walker?"

She looked at him confused and then to Daryl, "The dead, that's what we call 'em. Walkers."

Ren had never heard that term used for munchers before, but she also hadn't really spoken to anyone about them in a while, but she'd heard people call them _infected_ and _the wasted_ before. She looked back at Saddiq and shook her head. He gave her a sad smile, "So it was a person that did this to you."

She nodded this time and he pulled out a flash light, "I need you to stare straight ahead, I'll check to see if you have a concussion."

Doing as she told him she tried not to get nervous at his proximity. When he was done checking he said that she should still be fine to sleep but that she did seem to have a minor concussion. Saddiq reached out to touch her neck and she flinched away from him, memories of the last doctor she'd been around flashing into her mind, making her heartbeat rapid and her breathing quick. Daryl moved closer to her, bringing her face to look at him, "It's alright, calm down. He ain't gunna hurt ya."

"What's going on? You've never had issues with the doctor?" Negan looked at her, worried for his niece, "What the hell happened to you out there?"

Her eyes fell from Daryls, settling on the floor between his legs. A lot. That's what happened. Daryl put his hand on her shoulder as he looked back at Negan with a glare, "Don ask her shit like that unless you plan on tellin her what you've done." He looked back at her, "I'm right here, Docs just gunna check you alright?"

Her heart was still beating rapidly, but she took Daryls hand in hers and looked back at Saddiq, giving him a nod to continue. She gripped his hand tight at first as Saddiq touched her neck, checking for bruising, but her grip faded as he went on, being sure to be extra gentle with her and to not make any sudden movements. When he was done examining her, he backed away, making her more comfortable, "You don't need stitches, but I should disinfect the scratches just in case and bandage them up, it that alright?"

After a hesitant swallow and a reassuring squeeze from Daryls hand, she nodded. Saddiq gave her a warm smile and moved to gather his supplies. Negan watched his niece holding hands with Daryl, sitting there motionless as they waited and he didn't know what horrors she'd been through, but thinking of his own past actions, he couldn't help but hate what he'd done, because what if someone had done things like that to her? Had killed her friends, had forced her into doing jobs that were dangerous and demeaning, or made her be their wife instead. He felt sick thinking of all the things that she could have been subjected to.

When Saddiq finished his treatment, Daryl took her to where she would be sleeping, Negan having left to go to his own home and try to figure out what to do to help her, because being around her wasn't helping either of them.

Putting her hand on the door frame, she couldn't help but smile, it'd been so long since she'd been in an actual house, with an actual bed, not one of the crappy dorm beds. Daryl couldn't help but enjoy her smile, it was one of the only ones he'd seen that day, "My rooms that one. You can lock the door and the bathroom locks too."

He watched as she checked what he said, locking the back of the door knob then checking the front to make sure it didn't move. She looked back up at him, "Thanks."

Daryl nodded back, "You get settled in, I gotta go do somethin, I'll be back soon though."

"Alright." She replied, shutting the door and locking it.

Daryl headed down the stairs and ran into Rick and Michonne. Rick asked, "She comfortable here?"

"Much as she can be." He told them honestly, "She ain't been with good people in a while."

"Where were you off to?" Michonne asked him.

"Armory."

"She asked for a gun?" Rick sounded defensive. "Is that her trade?"

"Nah, she ain't said what she wants yet." Daryl said, "But she only has knives. I'm giving it to her cause she needs it."

He went out the door and made his way to where all the guns were kept and when he got to the weapons locker, he looked at all the different pistols. Wanting something that held a lot, but that wouldn't give a lot of kick and sit right in her hands he decided on a Glock 9mm, it was on the smaller end, with a high magazine capacity and was light weight. Putting it in his waist belt he headed back to the house and to her room. Knocking on the door, he let her know it was him. When she opened, he asked, "Can I come in?"

She nodded and allowed him into the room. He entered and looked at her, "Got you somethin."

Handing her the gun with the muzzle pointed away from both of them so she knew he wasn't threatening her he asked, "You ever shot one before?"

"No." Ren answered, she'd never been taught, she didn't even think about grabbing anything like that when she left California, the only thing she'd thought she'd have to defend herself from were munchers which could be taken down with knives.

"I'll teach you." He put it in her hands, "But for now, this is the safety, you need to make sure that's down before you try and fire, light squeeze on the trigger and it'll shoot, there's already one in the chamber so you aint gotta worry about that for right now, and when you fire at someone, if they're breathin you shoot for the chest, it's a bigger target."

"How…" She was about to feel really stupid for asking this, she knew the basic answer, but not the proper one, "How do I hold it?"

"Here." He moved around behind her and put his arms around her, to where they were over her arms, "For now, use both hands, dominant hand underneath, with the index finger on the trigger, cup your other hand over it for stability. Push with one, pull with the other, it'll help with aim and recoil. Don lock your elbows."

She let him move her hands to where they needed to be and realized that this was the safest she had felt in a long time, that him explaining to her how to use a gun was the nicest gesture anyone had done towards her since she'd left her home out west, besides him saving her from Leon. Looking up at him over her shoulder she gave him a soft smile, "Thank you, for this…I actually feel safe right now."

"That's why I'm givin it to you." He gave her a small smile back, "You should always feel safe."

A knock at the door startled her and Daryl moved away from her as she sat the gun down on the bed. He opened the door and saw Rick standing there, "Yeah?"

"I was wondering if Ren had decided what it is she wanted to trade yet?" Rick looked at him then to her.

She looked around for a pen and paper and when she didn't see anything she went over to Daryl and standing on her tip toes told him what it was that she wanted. Daryl looked down at her then to Rick, "She just wants to know where her brother is and to go see him."

* * *

 **A/N: Welp, she's offically talking to someone now (And thank goodness, it was really hard writing a character that doesn't talk haha). Keep letting me know what y'all think, I'm loving your reactions!**


	8. Chapter 8

Ren didn't sleep well that night, being in a new place with new sounds and new people made it hard her for her to sleep easy. At the first light she got up and got dressed, grabbing her tool bag, heading down the stairs and to where the solar panels were. She worked, fully inspecting each panel as the sun began getting brighter and marking the different things needed for each to be fixed.

Hearing footsteps coming up to her she placed her hand over her knife until she looked up and saw Daryl. He had a plate in his hand as he approached her, "Got worried when I first woke up, seein your door open."

"Sorry, getting up early is a habit." She told him as he knelt down.

"You need to eat." He handed her the plate.

She looked at the tomatoes, toast, and eggs then back up to him, "You cook this?"

"Yeah." He said with gruff.

Ren couldn't help the small smile on her face, "Guess I should have made you cook while you were with me as payment for my medical treatment."

"Shut it and eat." He put the plate in her hands as he sat down next to her. She hid her smile as she took a bite of the eggs, it was kind of sweet that he'd not only brought her breakfast but had cooked it for her too. He knew how uncomfortable she was here, and he was trying his best to make it more comfortable for her, and she couldn't help but be flattered by this. He looked at the panels, "How long you think it's gunna take?"

"Some won't be long at all, a couple need to be completely re-wired, which is where it gets difficult." She took a bite of her toast, "However I will need a house with power to work off of for some of my tools."

"I can get you a workshop set up." He told her, "Get the easy ones done and I'll talk to the others about the harder ones. If we don needed 'em then you ain't gotta worry about fixin 'em."

"During the darker seasons you guys will need them though." She spoke through her hand, covering her mouth, "You'll need all the power you can get if you guys keep expanding."

"How'd you know we expanded?" Daryl asked her, trying not to sound suspicious.

"The walls have moved in some areas, you can see where the dirt has been replaced." She pointed to the area where they had moved the wall to include the steeple and the other houses that had been right outside of it, "Structural and Civil engineering were never my thing, but I had to take a class in them to get all my credits."

"Ah." Daryl had no clue what that meant. "Just how smart are you?"

"Should have been MENSA." She smiled at him.

"What's that?" He asked.

She let out a soft laugh, "Just a really smart kid. I was never tested though. Doesn't really matter anymore anyways."

Daryl nodded at her, "Yeah it does. You're helpin us because of it."

"Yeah, I guess." She shrugged it off shyly, before setting down her empty plate and pointing, "These five are the five I can take care of no problem. These three need a little more love."

"Alright." He said standing up, "You wait here, I'll go talk to Aaron."

She nodded and stayed there, only standing up when Daryl returned with another man who had a very impressive beard. Daryl looked at her, "This is Aaron, it's his garage you'll be usin'."

"Nice to meet you Ren." Aaron smiled at her and she gave a small smile and nod back, "Which one are we starting with?"

She pointed to the one closest to the end and the two men moved to either side of it, picking it up and carrying it back to Aarons garage. She followed them there and when they set it down Aaron looked at his watch, "It's time for me to feed Gracie, but if you guys need anything just let me know."

"Yeah." Daryl responded as the man went back inside. Ren looked up at him and he brushed it off, "Aaron won't lay a finger on you, trust me."

"Okay." She said softly before sitting down to unhook the panel completely, "I'll get started then."

"You want me to stay?" He asked.

She hesitated, "If you have other things to do, I understand."

"Your car was makin' a strange noise on the drive over." He stood, "I'll bring it over and check it out while you're workin."

"Okay." She replied, her smile hidden as she got closer to the wiring of the panel.

* * *

Daryl was under her car, she'd been in serious need of an oil change among other things, when he heard footsteps and rolled out from under it to see Rick standing above him. Rick pointed inside the garage where Ren was working, "How's it going?"

"She ain't taken a break all day." Daryl told him.

"Looks like you haven't either." Rick smiled. "It's nice. It's been a while since you looked after someone like this."

"She's been through a lot." He wiped off his hands, "She's been alone all this time."

"Yeah, despite her appearance, she's a survivor." Rick watched as she moved from the desk back to the panel, fitting something in, "Do you know how it's coming?"

"We can ask." Daryl said.

"I feel like it'll be quicker if just you go in. She talks to you." Rick motioned for him to go in alone with a smirk.

Daryl shrugged and walked in the garage and heard her muttering, "Come on baby, I know you've been through a lot, but you can do this. Just light up for me. Come on, I know you can."

He tried to hide his smile at this, he'd never expected a tone like that to come from her, but then again, he was still getting used to her voice in the first place. He watched as her finger clicked something into place, moving her hand away quickly from it and she smiled, "That'a girl."

"It workin?" He asked.

"Yes, she is wide awake and ready for sunlight." Ren stood a smiled on her face.

"Sounds like you were havin trouble?" Daryl asked.

"She was a tricky one, but all it took was a little coaxing and caressing to get her there." She looked at him with a smile, then realized how she sounded, "It can go back outside now."

"Rick." Daryl called to him, "This one's good to go."

"Really?" Rick came inside, "I thought it would take longer."

"It will for three of them." Daryl said, "The others she said about a day."

"Thanks, we really appreciate this." Rick smiled at Ren, "When you're finished with the other four, I'll have Negan take you to where your brother is, then we'll worry about the other three." She nodded that that was alright, "Are you hungry? It's almost dinner time."

Ren looked from Rick to Daryl and Daryl stepped forward, "Imma be takin her home tonight, she didn bring enough clothes for more than one day."

"Alright." Rick said, "Plus I'm sure your bed is more comfortable anyways."

It wasn't, but it felt safer for her there, she slept better. Rick and Daryl moved the panel back out where it had been and she watched as Negan approached her, "Ren?"

She turned and looked at him and he rubbed his forehead, "Look, Ren, I get it, you're mad at me and you have every right to be. I let you down, I let Hammond down, I let your dad down…Whatever it takes to make it up to you, just let me know, and I'll do it."

She looked away from him, it sucked being mad at him. They'd always been close when she was younger, and the families would visit each other. She had felt bad when she wasn't able to get time off to go and see Aunt Lucille when she was in the hospital. The whole time she was on the run she would think about late night fire pits in their back yard making s'mores together and hoping that even though her aunt wasn't there anymore that she could still have that with him and her brother. But that wouldn't happen now. It would never happen again. All of that was done. She looked back at him and pointed to her wrist where a watch should go. This one Negan understood.

"Ren, you wanna take the bike or you want me to finish up on your car?" Daryl asked walking back over. She looked at him and revved again, knowing that it would be safer for her car to stay in Alexandria and he nodded, "Alright, go get any stuff you wanna take back."

She nodded again and Negan followed her, "I know you said time, but what the hell is it with you and Daryl? I can't say I'm a fan of it." Rolling her eyes at her uncle she continued on walking while shaking her head. He kept talking, "Come on, you gotta admit, it's a little weird. I mean _Daryl_. Like yeah, maybe he saved you, but it's weird. Don't tell me you don't see it." She pointed at him then made a face and he let out a laugh, "Are you trying to say I'm weird?"

She nodded and made her way inside the house.

"I am not weird!" He called out after her, "I'm a bad ass!"

She faked being scared of him and let out a half laugh. He was no more a bad ass then she was. He was a softie and she knew it. Daryl passed by him still standing outside the house and didn't even look at him as he started up the stairs until Negan said his name. He turned, "What?"

"You put a hand on my niece in any way that isn't to help her, and I mean as in the Jesus kind of help, I'll kill you." Negan looked him dead in the eye.

Daryl just blew him off and kept walking.

When they made it back to her building, they hid the bike and went inside. She looked at the now dried bloodstain on the floor and sighed, "Guess I should have washed it out before it stained."

"Put a rug over it." He shrugged.

"Yeah I guess." She stretched, "I'm going to go take a shower. Are you staying tonight too?"

He nodded, "Im gunna go see if I can find where he broke in and seal it off."

"That probably is more important than a shower." She turned to go with him, but he put a hand on her shoulder stopping her.

"You worked hard today. Go clean up." He pushed her back. "I'll turn the water back on while I'm downstairs."

"O-okay." It's been a while since she'd had someone to offer to do things for her like this. She was used to working and then working some more and then taking a break.

* * *

When Daryl came back from boarding up the window that had been broken open in one of the first-floor rooms, he turned the corner to see her sitting on the couch with a bowl of vegetables eating while watching one of her DVDs. He was taken a little off guard by her wearing shorts and having her damp hair down around her face. He'd never seen her this relaxed looking before. She pointed to the counter, "I made you one too."

"Thanks." He said going to the bowl she pointed at and he saw his was only veggies too. He sat down on the couch next to her, "I found the break in and fixed it."

"Thank you." She put a carrot in her mouth, covering it to hide the crunch, "I appreciate it a lot."

He nodded while eating then put the bowl down and looked at her, "When's the last time you ate meat?"

"Since…" It had been a part of her allotted food while being held captive, but it had never been much, and they didn't even season it, "Since around when it all began."

"Imma get you some meat." He told her, "You need protein if you're gunna be workin like this for us."

"Really?" Her eyes lit up, but she tried to hide it, she didn't want him to feel obligated or for her to have to be obligated to him if he got her it. "I mean, you don't have too, it's fine. I've gotten used to not having it."

"I hunt a lot." He told her, "It ain't no problem to give you some."

"Okay." Her voice was low as she continued eating.

Daryl picked his bowl back up and kept eating. As he chewed, he said, "You should stay tomorrow night, let Aaron make you somethin'. He's a good cook."

"Better than you?" She smirked. He let out a scoffed laugh but nodded. She teased, "I didn't think your breakfast was that bad."

"Shut it." He kept eating as the TV played.

When she was done eating, Ren sat back against the couch relaxing, not realizing how tired she was from the lack of sleep she'd gotten the previous night. Her eyes began drooping as she sat there and soon, she was asleep.

Daryl looked over to see her fast asleep and he leaned back into his position, he didn't want to wake her up if he were to stand, so he just stayed where he was, watching something on TV he didn't care about. He assumed that Ren just kept it on mostly for the noise at this point, sure she'd seen every single one of them. He stiffened slightly when he felt her arm touch his as her body slumped towards him.

Looking over at her he noticed that if she stayed asleep with her head in the position it was in, she would wake up with a bad pain in her neck. Carefully he reached over and moved her head to lean on his shoulder so that it had some support. His stomach went tight as she nuzzled against him and wrapped one of her arms around his, holding him there while she slept.

Looking down at her he couldn't help but smile slightly, moving a lock of wet hair from her face. At least she was sleeping and he knew she was safe still.

* * *

A/N: Be sure to let me know what you guys think! I read all of the reviews :)


	9. Chapter 9

Ren and Daryl were preparing to leave after she'd watered her plants and turned the pipes back off, their positions while asleep never spoken of. She grabbed her bag and looked at him, "I figured I'd stay tonight."

"Alright." He nodded, "I'll make sure Aaron makes you somethin good."

"Will you be there too?" She asked.

"I should be, yeah." He told her, "But if not, Aaron will make sure you're taken care of. His boyfriend died a while back and since then it's just been him and his daughter, so he likes company."

She couldn't help but smile, "So that's what you meant by he won't lay a finger on me."

"Yeah." He nodded, "Plus he's a decent guy, saved a bunch of us from dyin out on the road…like someone else I know."

"You do realize I was just going to leave you there to die right?" She looked up at him hiding her smirk.

"But ya didn." He looked down at her, wondering, "Why?"

"You had baby stuff. And didn't want me to take it from you…I thought it was for your kid maybe." She looked away from him, her eyes completely avoiding his.

"And if it hadn't of been for my friends?" He asked.

"If you had tried to hurt me, I would have killed you." She answered back her voice as certain as when she spoke about what needed to be done to fix the panels. He knew she would have.

"Ren." He stopped as they got outside.

"Yeah?" She turned and looked at him.

"How many walkers you killed?" He asked.

"God, I don't know. Hundreds. Why?" She cocked her head to the side.

"How many people you killed?"

Her face went pale. She swallowed hard, "Which answer do you want?"

"What'd'ya mean?" He stepped closer to her.

"The answer you want to hear, or the answer I tell myself."

"The truth." Daryl replied.

"I don't know that number." She answered him, "I just know that I did what I had to to survive. Sometimes I didn't get to count the bodies afterwards."

He watched as she turned away from him, clearly upset by this answer and the fact she didn't like it was enough for him. He nodded, "Alright."

Daryl moved past her and got the bike out, starting it, and she got on behind him. Before he started moving, he looked back at her over his shoulder, "It wasn't personal. We ask everyone."

"I understand." She looked up at him, "You can never be too careful."

* * *

Stretching her back as she put down her soldering iron and lifting up her magnifying glasses, she wiped her face. Despite it being almost September, it was still swelteringly hot out. Rubbing the back of her next she heard a voice behind her, "Would you like some water?"

She turned and saw Aaron with a little girl in his arms. Nodding slowly with a small smile, he smiled back at her and went inside. Daryl had said he had to go and do something but that he would be back and so she had been sitting in silence working. When he came back out, he handed the water bottle back to her and she bowed her head in thanks. He asked, "Do you know sign language or anything?"

She shook her head at him with a small smile. Gracie leaned out towards her, her little hand reaching for Ren and Ren moved her hand up so that Gracie could wrap her hand around her finger. Aaron smiled at her, "I think she likes you. Would you like to hold her?"

Ren shook her head fast, pulling her hand gently away from the little girl. Daryl came around the corner and saw this. He walked up to them, "Hey, what'd'ya makin for dinner?"

"I was thinking chicken fettuccini." Aaron told him. He realized what Daryl was getting at though and looked down at Ren, "I'll let you get back to it so that you aren't working late."

She nodded and took a sip of her water before putting the magnifiers back down on her glasses. Daryl leaned on the desk while she worked, "You don like kids?"

"It's complicated." She told him. "I used to like them…before."

He understood that it had to do with whatever those guys had done. He looked at her, "How much longer you gonna be?"

"Not too much." She sighed, "Just have to reconnect a few things then it should be good to go back in."

"Good. C'mon." he patted her on the back.

"What?" She looked at him as he started walking away, "I need to finish this."

"If you don do it right now will it break?" He asked.

"No." She answered.

"Then c'mon." He motioned for her to follow him and she grabbed her water before standing up. As they walked, he asked, "You got your gun?"

"Yeah." She motioned to where it hung from her hip.

"Alright." They walked to the gate.

She didn't say anything until they were past all the people and it was just them again on the other side of the gate, "Daryl what the hell is going on?"

This was the first time she'd said his name and his stomach went tight for some reason. He motioned for her again as he walked off into the woods and after she broke through the tree line she stopped moving, "No, I'm not going any further. You tell me what the fuck is going on or I'm going back to get my car and I'm leaving."

He turned to look at her, shocked at her language, never having expected something like that to come from her. He held his hands up, "Don get all riled up. I said I was teachin ya to shoot, so that's where I'm taking ya."

"That's all you had to say." She looked at him, "I would have come, you didn't need to keep it a secret."

"I didn want them to know." He told her, "They know I gave you a gun, but I don want 'em to know I'm teachin ya how to use it." He walked back over to her, "So we gotta get far enough away so they won't hear the shots and so it don bring any walkers. They don know you either."

"I know…but you also don't know me." She looked at him, "How do you know you can trust me?"

"'Cause," He put a hand on her shoulder, "you trust me."

"That is the stupidest reasoning I've ever heard of." She couldn't help but laugh at him before motioning to the woods, "Go on, lead the way."

He turned around and kept walking and she followed him. When they came across a downed tree that was blocking their path he turned to help her over but she was already passing him, hoisting herself over it and he tried to hide how impressed he was, but again, just because she couldn't kill Leon, didn't mean she was helpless over all, she'd survived this long so she clearly had some skills he'd yet to see.

When they got to the area where he'd set up targets for her to practice on, he had her pull out the gun and she did. Getting behind her, he instructed, "Alright line the front notch up with the back two. Good, now hold it with a good grip, you don want it flyin out of your hands, but you don want it too tight or else it could hurt ya."

"Okay." She responded doing what he said, slightly uncomfortable now that it came to actually using the weapon.

"Now, aim for the target and give it a light squeeze." He instructed, keeping a hand on her shoulder, "It's gunna be loud."

"I know." She'd had them fired at her before, she knew how loud they were.

Daryl was a little put off by her tone, so he just replied, "Then shoot."

She readied herself and took in a deep breath. Then she let it out, but her finger didn't squeeze the trigger. She repeated the process again and once again didn't fire. Lowing the gun, she sighed, "I can't."

"Why?"

"It's too loud, what if they hear?" She looked up at him.

"Alexandria's too far."

"Not Alexandria." She lowered her eyes, "I've stayed hidden from them for most of the country by being quiet…"

"I told you, I'll kill 'em." He squeezed her shoulder.

"And when I'm done fixing the panels? When I go home and you stay here?" She asked him, "How will you kill them then when they find me?"

"Why'd'ya think I'm teaching you this?" He pointed at the gun, "Or you could stay with us."

"I can't do that." She told him.

"Why not?" He tried not to get frustrated with her stubbornness.

"I don't like big places with lots of people, not anymore." She told him, "Fifty locked doors wouldn't make me sleep easy at night, not when I don't know who might have the keys. Especially when I see houses that have been burned in there, graves by the dozen. You guys might be nice, but it doesn't make me feel safe with them seeing that."

Negan had been the one to do it, and God he wanted to tell her that right now, but that would probably make her leave right away. He looked down at her, "It wasn't safe but that was over a year ago. It's safe now."

"Not for me. I'll always be looking over my shoulder." She handed him the gun, her voice sad, "Thanks, but I'll stick to my knives."

She moved past him heading back the way they came, and he looked at the gun in his hand. She had said it made her feel safer, that she was thankful that he'd given it to her, so why the hell was she like this now? He started after her and when he heard the growling of walkers in the direction she had gone he sped up his pace.

When he caught up to where she was, he saw her with three walkers, one already dead on the ground. He watched as she kicked one, pushing it into another one and using the time she now had to dispatch the third one. Daryl hadn't really been able to see how she took out the group of walkers the day she saved him, but as he watched her with just a knife and pinning the two walkers against a tree, using the blade to take care of both of them he knew how capable she actually was.

Wiping her blade off on a shirt from one of the munchers she looked up at him, "My brother was a mixed martial artist trainer. He taught me how to protect myself with my hands and a pocket knife. A fifteen-year-old surrounded by twenty-year olds was perfect prey he told me. That I was too nice and that even though I wanted to believe that everyone was as good as me that I shouldn't expect them to be. He was wrong, he was the good one." She looked back down at the munchers, "The good are all dead. Those of us that are left might not be bad…but we're something other than good."

"We're survivors." Daryl spoke.

"No." She let out something similar to a small laugh, "I should have died along time ago. Everything I've been through should have killed me. But I refused to die. There's a difference between that and surviving. Those who survive they cope, the move on from what tried to kill them. Refusing to die just means that you'll do whatever it takes to keep on living…no matter who all suffers in the mean time. That's why I can't be a part of a group. You're all survivors, you've coped with things that have happened to you and moved on…but I refuse to die Daryl. I will not die until they're all dead too, and I will do whatever it takes to get them there, regardless of who it might hurt or kill."

"Yeah?" He asked, "And how'd you plan on killin em when you couldn't even fight one? He'd have killed you if I wasn't there."

"No." She told him, looking back up at him, her eyes a mix of sadness and devious, "He was in my room, that's where he would have taken me if you hadn't of been there, he enjoyed making his torture personal. Under the mattress is a is a taser. I would have killed him the same way him and his brother killed my best friend. There were originally twenty-five of them. Only twelve survived to follow me, now there are only six left."

So whatever those men had put her through, she hadn't been alone, she was just the only one to make it out. Daryl felt bad for her, she'd lost pretty much everything, and the only thing that had been keeping her going she knew was now gone, so the only thing she has left is the want for revenge.

"And what would have happened to you if he hadn't of been alone?" Daryl asked her, "If he'd been quicker than you or found the taser?" He knelt down and held the gun out to her, "You need to learn how to use this, so they don get that close, so you don get over run by them."

"Answer me honestly: Why do you care what happens to me?"

Daryl swallowed hard looking at her, trying to find an answer to her question, her eyes staring up at him, waiting for the truth. "Cause you're good, whether you wanna admit it or not. You're helpin us, you saved me, you took Maggie the stuff for her son when you could'a just let me go and risk dyin. That makes you good. And that's worth fightin for." He set the gun down next to her, "No one can make it alone now. And I won let you be alone. I been there, I know. Even if you never come and live with us, I'll still be comin to you, makin sure your alive."

"That was a better answer then I expected." She told him, pushing the gun back towards him, "I still don't want to use something that loud, it made me feel safe when you first gave it to me but now that I'm out here it just puts me on edge."

He sighed, "Fine, I'll find ya a silencer to somethin."

Standing up he put the gun back in his waist band and held a hand out to her, "C'mon, I'll take you back."

* * *

 **A/N: It's weird writing Daryl so many lines after him not having them for so _DAMN_ long in the show. Let me know what you guys think :)**


	10. Chapter 10

_The t-shirt and shorts she was in were scratchy and too big for her, but she liked it better that way, at least it wasn't like the other girls she'd seen in their cells who's all seemed too small. Her bare feet on the stone floor made her entire body colder, her knees were pulled into her chest as she sat in the corner of the room, not sure what was going to happen next. She couldn't sleep. It'd been a day since they'd been put in there, Becca had been put in the cell next to her. During the day they'd heard random cries or screams from down the hall ways in other rooms, but they didn't dare speak to each other, not sure what would happen to them. But it was quiet now. Everyone asleep._

 _"Ren?" She heard a quiet whisper from her friend, but the sound still echoed off the stone surrounding her in the other room._

 _"Hmm?"_

 _"I'm sorry." Beccas voice cracked._

 _"Becca don't." She replied._

 _"No, I shouldn't have flagged them down, we're stuck here because of me and-" Becca's teary voice was cut off by Ren._

 _"Becca, it was a trap. They put something to pop our tire on the road, they were watching and waiting for someone to come by. It's not your fault." She reassured her friend, "We'll figure this out. If we could figure out how to crack into Roberts computer and reprogram it to type all of his words backwards, we can figure this out."_

 _Becca let out a slight laugh, "God I miss that asshole."_

 _"Me too." Ren laid her head on her arms._

 _"You really think we'll get out of here?" Becca said._

 _"Of course we will." Ren told her friend, "I won't let anything stop me from getting to Hammond."_

 _"Who knows your bad ass big bro might come in here and save us." Becca laughed, sniffling._

 _"I wouldn't put it past him at all." Ren smiled, thinking of her brother._

 _Her thoughts were stopped by the sound of footsteps coming down the hall. She heard a girl muttering 'No' and 'Please not me' over and over again from across the hallway. The footsteps stopped outside her door._

 _"These are the two new ones. According to their IDs this one is twenty-four," That was Becca, "And this one is twenty-three." That one was her. Her heart started beating rapidly. "Let us know what you decide their part of the study will be, then we'll give them their treatment."_

 _Her door opened and a man began walking in towards her and she heard Beccas door open as well. She heard her friend ask, "What study? What treatment? Who the hell are you?"_

 _"So many questions." The man in her room said, "Everyone has the virus, we're trying to learn what we can about it, you ladies are being checked to see if you're fit to be studied about what it'll mean for the next generation or if you'll be sent to be tested for possible cures."_

 _"What? What the hell does that mean?" Becca asked her voice shaking. Ren knew that both of those things weren't good at all._

 _The man in her room set down his briefcase and looked at Ren, "Your friend has so many questions, don't you have any?"_

 _She just stared him down, not moving from her spot on the floor._

 _"Staring isn't nice, or is it glaring you're doing from down there?" The man gave her a sadistic grin, "Come, lay down on the bed so you can be examined properly."_

 _Ren didn't move. She wasn't going to give this bastard anything, maybe it would mean that they would take her from the room, she'd see a bit more of the place, figure out the layout to be able to escape._

 _"Do as I say, or you won't like what happens next little girl." He glared at her, but it did nothing to change what she was doing. He sighed and called towards the door, "This one isn't cooperating at all. Not even a word. If I could get some help getting her to lay down."_

 _The door opened again, and three more men came into the room. She swallowed hard, she wasn't going to give in, she tensed every muscle in her body, trying to make herself as much as a dead weight as possible, but the men grabbed her and lifted her easily, one having her waist, one her arms, and the other her legs._

 _She kicked and fought against them, but they kept a hold on her. She couldn't hear if this was also happening in Beccas room, her heartbeat loud in her ears. Her arms were pinned to the bed and cuffed to the railing of it then the men held her down and did the same to her legs. They pulled the straps tight and she wasn't able to move at all._

 _The man looked down at her, holding a syringe now, "See, that wouldn't have been so hard if you'd just done as I said. All I want to do is an examination, nothing more." He put the needle in her arm, drawing blood. Once he was done, he looked at the other men, "She's a quiet one but spirited, you're going to want to let Leon and Michael know about her for when I'm finished." The men nodded and left the room. He looked back down at her with a smile, "Now, for the rest."_

 _She felt the man's hands on the waist band of the shorts she'd been wearing, her heart pounding and stomach churning as she heard Becca yell out, "What the fuck are you doing?!"_

* * *

Her eyes shot open and her hands immediately went for her hips and she caught her breath, feeling the fabric of her pants still there. It was still dark outside, but she flung her legs over the edge of the bed, pushing the palms of her hands into her eyes, trying to wipe the nightmare of a memory away. Getting off of the bed she unlocked the door and quietly moved to the bathroom of the house.

Ren washed her face off with water, trying to calm herself down. As she stood there looking in the mirror, she saw how pale her face was, the circles under her eyes from how little she'd been sleeping the past few weeks. As she opened the door to go back to her room, she heard little whimpers and cries from a bedroom down the hall. It must be Judith, she thought. Following the sound, she saw the little girl in a small bed, tossing her head back and forth and when the girl let out a loud wail she moved over to her quickly, shushing her.

"It's okay, it's okay." Her voice was quiet and calm. The little girl opened her eyes, big rolls of tears going down her cheeks and she reached her hands out to Ren. Her heart hurt to much not to do it. She scooped the little girl up in her arms who hugged her back. Ren ran her hand down the childs back.

Daryl had heard Judith crying and got out of bed, heading for his door. Michonne met him in the hallway and they heard someone in the room with Judith. Michonne went on guard before they saw down the hallway Ren holding the little girl who was still sniffling with tears. They listened.

"Did you have a nightmare?" Ren asked the little girl, "It's alright, I have them too most nights." She pulled Judith from her shoulder and wiped some of her tears away, "I know the world out there is scary, but you don't have to worry about anything in your bad dreams. You have a family, people who will keep you safe no matter what. They seem like good people. Are they good people?" She asked the little girl, not sure why considering she was still half asleep and had been crying, but that didn't stop her. It was nice having someone to really talk to that wasn't herself and would have no idea what she was saying, "Can I trust them? I wish I could, I wish I could be as carefree as you, only afraid of the shadows in my closet again. But the world isn't like that anymore, not for me anyways…not after what I've done."

Michonne looked at Daryl with a question and he kind of shrugged at her, he knew that she'd killed people, but he didn't know what all she'd done.

Judith had put her head back on Rens shoulder and she rubbed the little girls back with a sigh, "I guess there is still some good in the world if you're still here…something has to balance out the bad. I'd always wondered what holding a toddler would feel like, I never got that far though." Daryl and Michonne suddenly felt like they shouldn't be listening anymore but neither of them could move. "Three months was the limit they gave me. Becca was eight. After that they'd find someway to get the baby out of us before it was born to study it." She felt Judith nuzzle to her shoulder, "I probably shouldn't tell you that though, should I? Give you even more nightmares. Sorry about that, you'd think I would have a better maternal instinct considering I've been pregnant three times. How about I just rock you, huh?" She kissed the little girl on the head, rocking her as she went back to sleep.

Daryl motioned his head for him and Michonne to leave, he'd heard enough, and he knew Ren wouldn't hurt Judith, and he knew that someone like the kid would be the easiest person for her to talk to. Michonne nodded and the two of them went back to their rooms.

* * *

She was showing Rick the map that she'd drawn out of where the panels should be placed now that nine of them were operational again. Daryl was standing near by incase he had to translate but she'd found it easier to write her thoughts out instead of trying to tell Daryl what she was trying to say.

Ren wrote on the sheet of paper, " _While we're looking for the wires and supplies to fix the other three, putting a reflective surface in front of the panels, angled at them to reflect the sun, you'll get a higher power output."_

"Really?" Rick looked at her with a smile, "Would aluminum foil work?"

She nodded then wrote, " _Use the shiny side though_."

"You really are something." Rick couldn't help but chuckle at the plans in front of him, "Never would have guessed you'd be related to Negan."

She looked at him confused, then held her fingers up in the shape of the letter Y.

"Because, he doesn't really strike me as book smart." Rick chose his words carefully.

She wrote down on the paper " _He was a high school gym coach though._ "

"What?" Rick laughed, "No."

She nodded and Daryl walked over looking at the paper. He scoffed, "That shit don make him smart though."

She nodded again and wrote, " _Coming up with plays in sports requires critical thinking as well as mathematical and probability abilities. You have to know all the rules, which ones you can bend, and have the ability to see three steps ahead of your opponent. He knows this for a bunch of sports. It takes more brains then people think."_

"Well I guess you have a point there." Rick smiled, "I'll go get him, you've held up your end so far, time for us to do ours."

She swallowed hard as Rick left the porch and turned to Daryl, "Will you go with us?"

He bit the inside of his lip. Being stuck in a car with Negan wasn't his idea of a good time, but despite the fact that the man was her uncle, he didn't like the idea of leaving her alone with him. Not when he didn't know what was going to happen when she saw where ever her brother was. "Yeah, I'll go."

"Thanks." She looked down at the table, "I'm not sure how it'll be…he hasn't really tried to talk to me since that first day."

Daryl nodded, "You asked for time."

"I know and I've only had six days…" She looked back at him, "Should I forgive him now?"

 _Hell no_ Daryl thought, but then she was asking only about what she knew about, not what all Negan had done. He put his hand on her shoulder, "That's ain't somethin for me to decide."

"Ren, you ready?" Negan said from the bottom of the stairs. She turned and looked at him and took a deep breath before walking towards him, Daryl following her. Negan looked at him, "Take it your coming too?"

"You don't understand nothin she says." Daryl didn't even look at him.

They made their way to the car in an uncomfortable silence and it remained that way for the entire drive. Ren looked out the windows, seeing things she recognized, she realized where they were going. As they pulled into the neighborhood, she turned to look at her uncle, her eyes wide as they pulled up to his house. He put the car in park, "I told you, it happened as we were getting ready to leave…he's in the backyard."

Ren got out of the car and made her way to the fence, opening it, and moving through. Daryl and Negan got out of the car and Negan sighed, running his hand over his face, "This isn't going to go well."

"What'd'ya mean?" He asked, shooting a lone walker that was attempting to follow her with his bow.

"When she sees it…it'll be real." Negan began walking to the backyard, Daryl behind him. As they turned the corner, they saw her stopped in front of a grave that had patches of grass growing on it.

She stared at the cross with an H at the top, his birthday and death day on it…the latter only one week after he'd sent the video to her saying he was coming to get her. Her legs felt weak staring at it. Her brothers body…what was left of it…was six feet underneath her feet. She got down on her knees, seeing more written on the cross. Carved into the wood were the words _Son, Nephew, Brother._ Rens fingers ghosted over the last word. Her uncle had put time and effort into this.

He didn't know what to say to her, if she even wanted to hear anything from him. He knew an apology about his nephew wouldn't do any good, so instead Negan just stood behind her, waiting.

Her voice was soft as she looked at her brother's grave, "How did it happen?"

* * *

 **A/N: Let me know what you guys think :) Another chapter coming soon!**


	11. Chapter 11

"They'd shut off D.C., no one could get in our out. Trent was stuck in there so that just left me and Hammond to go get you." Negan stepped up to be closer behind her as he told her what happened, "It was about three thirty in the morning and we were packing the truck to leave. He was putting bags in the bed and I was double checking and securing the house to make sure that it'd still be here for us when we got back… I was inside when I heard it. He let out a yell and when I looked out the window he was cussing as he tried to get the walker off his shoulder. I guess it'd come up from behind him. I grabbed the bat by the front door and whacked the piece of shit off him, but it was too late. It was before we knew that if you got bit, you'd turn even if you didn't die from blood loss, so I took him back inside." His voice was shaking at this point, "He insisted that I just patch him up and we get in the truck and go. But I told him to wait at least a day, he'd lost a lot of blood and that maybe we should even take him to a hospital. He wouldn't go." Negan looked down at the grave marker, "He…he said he'd just rest for a few hours then we'd leave around noon, but he didn't make it that long. When he woke back up, he was already gone. I took my pistol and…and…" He broke, "Ren, I'm so sorry. I should have listened to him, even if he'd turned on the road, I would have at least been heading towards you and might not have stopped, I probably would have kept going. But seeing him like that was so damn hard." Ren was looking up at her crying uncle, "You were always the one we had to look out for, to protect. Not Hammond. He always had it taken care of. And then to see him like that…when I had to shoot your brother, I couldn't go looking for you. Because I couldn't do that to you, it was hard enough with him. Part of me thought that if Hammond was already gone…then in a place so close to San Francisco…how could you still be alive?"

"Because I was waiting for you." She looked back at the cross, "Everything I went through was because I was looking for you guys."

Negan got down on his knees in front of her and took her by the shoulders, "Ren, I don't know what happened to you out there, but it made you strong, stronger than I ever thought possible-"

"No." She shook her head, her lip quivering, "It made me weak. But, doing what he said," She pointed at the H, "following his rules, that made me stronger than everyone else."

"I'm so proud of you for making it all this way." Negan wrapped his arms around her, "I never should have doubted you. I never should have given up on you."

"But you did." She didn't return his hug.

"I know. And whatever I can do to fix that I will." He looked in her eyes.

"Tell me what else you've done." Her eyes didn't wavier as she looked into his, "What else have you done that you're ashamed of?"

"What?" Negan asked.

"You know I'm not stupid." She told him, "I've heard whispers, seen looks. What the hell have you done?"

Negan looked to Daryl, "Can you give us a minute?"

Daryl looked from him to Ren, asking if that's what she wanted him to do. She gave him a quick nod and he left the back yard, letting Negan tell her everything.

* * *

He was leaning on the car when Ren came back up front flexing her hand. Negan was behind her with a busted open lip and he was holding his hand to it. Daryl tried to hide his amusement that the small girl had hit him. She looked at Daryl, "Sorry he was such a piece of shit to you guys. I'll do some work for free to make up for it."

"Nah, it ain't for you to make up." Daryl shook his head, pushing himself off the car.

"They killed my people first!" Negan looked down at her, "It was just a defensive play!"

"And what were you? The star Quarterback?" She asked him, "Hoping to get banged after the big win? Because people shouldn't die or become slaves just because you wanna get fucked."

"Damn, you are related to him." Daryl looked at her, "No one's got a mouth like that but him."

"Yeah, I taught her well." Negan smiled at him, "But Ren, the world changed, and I'd lost everyone. I lost my shit a little bit, and yeah that caused some people to die, but think about how many other people some of those people might have killed and now they aren't here. It's survival."

"Or think about how many people those people might have saved and now more are dead. It's not survival at all. It's malice." She told her uncle, "You didn't lose your shit at all, you were always a tough love, put down kind of person with everyone but me, Hammond, and Aunt Lucille. You were like that all the time with Dad and Uncle Trent. You just upped your game since there weren't any rules anymore."

"We're brothers, it's supposed to be like that." Negan sighed, "If I hadn't of busted their balls they'd have never gotten anywhere in life. It's how you move people forward."

"No, it's how you break people down." She walked away from him heading for the front door, "We should check and see if they're anything useful here before we go."

Daryl secured his bow to shoulder and started to follow her, passing by Negan, "You're right, she is the smartest damn thing in your whole family."

"Man, shut up, you don't know shit." Negan said to him, "You don't fucking know her. I practically raised her during summers. And I know she knows that the way I treated people was a good thing."

"Maybe she did then." Daryl looked him right in the eye, "But clearly she don't now."

"You two coming or what?" She yelled having the front door already open.

"The hell? I had that thing deadbolted." Negan said walking over to her.

"I traveled two-thousand nine-hundred and fifty-six miles. You think I didn't figure out how to get through a lock?" She looked up at him, "You taught me how to pick a one when I was seven. Hammond was pissed when he found out."

"How'd he find out?" Negan asked.

She smirked, "Cute freshman invited me to a party when I was seventeen. Hammond wouldn't have let me go if he knew it was a frat party. So I snuck out and he caught me when I was coming home."

"You went to a frat party?!" Her uncle almost yelled, "Do you know what could have happened to you?!"

"Yeah." Her tone was flat, "I know."

She walked into the house and started looking through drawers. Daryl moved past Negan, who was visibly uncomfortable being in his home again after all these years and started looking for stuff too. They moved around the house and when Ren walked into the living room she froze, seeing blood on the rug by the couch. Daryl had seen her freeze in the doorway, still being in the kitchen and moved to see what she was looking at. He put his hand on her shoulder, "Why don you go look up stairs."

"Yeah, okay." She turned away from the dried stain and with a churning stomach headed upstairs.

Negan walked over to where Daryl was now in the living room and his eyes avoided the mark on the floor, "I don't get it. Why you? Why the hell did she start talking to you?" Daryl didn't respond, "I mean yeah, you saved her life. I get that, but she saved yours too, so that just makes you even. What the fuck does a girl like that see in an asshole like you to be friends with him?"

"More than she sees in an asshole who named a bat after his dead wife." Daryl moved into the hallway looking in the closet, not even looking back at Negan.

Negan was about to start saying something when Ren's footsteps came down the stairs, putting on a leather jacket that was slightly to big for her, "Nothing really upstairs except some clothes."

"Why'd you grab that?" Negan asked.

"Because winters coming and Aunt Lucille knew how much I liked it, she said she'd buy me one just like it but never got the chance." Ren adjusted it around her neck, "Garage is the last place, it might have some gems."

The three of them headed in there and began looking. Negan started taking things back out to the car as Ren and Daryl looked through the shelves. She was trying to see up on the top shelf but wasn't tall enough. She turned to Daryl, "Hey can you see up there?"

He stood on his tip toes and tried, but the top of his head barely passed the bottom of the shelf.

"Give me a boost?" She asked him and he nodded, putting his hands down for her to put a foot in. Putting her hand on his shoulder, she stepped into his hands and he hoisted her up to where she was tall enough to see what was on the shelf. Daryl didn't even have to strain since she was so light, giving her the chance to move things out of the way to look at everything that was up there. She gasped, "Jackpot!"

"What is it?" He asked.

She pulled down a coiled bunch of tubing and showed it to him, "Heat shrinking wire insulation." She smiled, putting it on the shelf below where they could reach it from the ground, "Can you keep me up here for a bit?"

"Yeah." He told her.

"Cool, if the insulation is still up here then the so should the copper." She told him, "I can use both of those to be able to fix the last three panels and we don't have to worry about searching for materials. Good thing Uncle Negan wanted me to upgrade his entertainment system before I moved away."

She searched around and reached far in the back before her fingers brushed up against something that felt light it might be right. Stretching her back she pulled it forward with her fingertips and Daryl put his hand on her thigh to help keep her from falling as she grabbed what she was attempting to get. Opening the container, she smiled, "Looks like this trip was better for more than just destroying my emotions and the respect I still had for my Uncle. We have copper wiring."

Setting it down on the lower shelf, she bent over slightly, putting her hand back on Daryl's shoulder as he carefully put her back on the ground, a hand on her waist. Once she was back down, she looked at him, "Thank you…for being here today. I know you don't really like my Uncle, and now that I know why I totally understand…so thanks for being willing to put up with him for me."

"Yeah." He nodded, her green eyes looking up at him. "I wanted to make sure you'd be safe. I don trust him still."

Daryl froze as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and whispered, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry he did that to you. Locked you up like that. You didn't deserve that. I wouldn't trust him either if he did it to me."

Slowly Daryl hugged her back, this was the first time anyone had said something like that to him after what had happened. "Thanks."

"He can be a real dick at times…but if anything of my Uncle is still in there…then he isn't all bad." She told him, "But if you never forgive him, I understand."

"What the fucking shit is going on in here?" Negan asked from the door way, "I warned you Daryl-"

"I'll hit you again if you try and threaten him." Ren looked at the man, "He's a better man then you've been lately." She moved away from Daryl and grabbed the wires and tubes from the lower shelf, "We have everything now, we can go."

"We're going to have a talk about this." Negan told her.

"Nope." She said walking past him.

"The second we get back to Alexandria you're going to tell me everything like a whore in a confessional." Negan looked at her as she reached the front door.

Daryl walked up to Negan and was inches from his face. His jaw was tight, "You compare her to shit like that again and I'll beat you bloody."

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys so I'm not sure why but I had a really hard time with this chapter, so if it isn't up to par, I apologize. Let me know what you guys think! :)**


	12. Chapter 12

Daryl was on his way back from a run to where she stayed, grabbing a few things she asked for and watering her plants. The last three panels were time consuming, she was having to remake wires and connect them all, working from sun up to sun down, the first panel having taken four days. He knew he wouldn't make it back by dinner, having left later in the day this time, but he also knew that Aaron would make sure she had something to eat.

She'd grown comfortable with the man, she still hadn't spoken to him yet, in fact she'd only spoke one or two words to Negan since they'd returned from her brother's grave, but Daryl knew that she trusted Aaron a little bit more than the others because he himself trusted Aaron so much. At the same time, it didn't matter how much Daryl trusted him, Ren was still weary of Rick.

As he pulled into Alexandria it was dark out and he made his way to Aarons garage to see if she was still there. Not shocked to see the door still open and the light still on he turned to see her hunched over the desk, an empty plate off to the side and her head on the desk. Slowly he walked up to her and saw that her eyes were closed. She was sleeping. He couldn't help but give a small smile at this, but he also knew that she needed to sleep in a real bed so that way she wasn't sore the next day. Gently he put his hand on her back, shaking her slightly, "Ren…Ren, you need to wake up…Ren…Ren, wake up."

He shook her a little bit harder and she gasped, her eyes flying open and hand grabbing the soldering iron next to it, going for his neck. Daryl grabbed her wrist to keep her from stabbing him "Just me."

Her eyes widened in realization that it was him. She put her hand to her mouth, and he let go of her hand. "I'm sorry!"

She was shaking and set the iron down before standing up and walking quickly out of the garage. Daryl followed her out as she headed toward where the panels were and he reached out, taking her arm, but not holding her tightly. Stopping but not turning around, she threw up. He moved her ponytail out of her way, so it didn't get vomit on it and put his hand on her back, rubbing it as she got rid of her dinner. She sniffled, wiping her mouth, "I almost killed you."

He pulled her head to his chest, wrapping his arms around her, "It's okay."

"No, it isn't." She started to cry, "I just attacked you."

"Nah, you were protectin yourself." He ran his hand down her hair.

"It's just…I'm not…I'm not used to being woken up nicely by someone." She held onto his waist. He didn't know what to say, but he knew what that meant, and he held her tighter. She muttered, "I know you've figured it out, you aren't naïve or stupid."

"Yeah." He admitted then asked, "You…You wanna talk about it?"

"Yes…but I can't." She clung to him, "I hate myself and I hate them and I want to forget it ever happened, move on and be able to see good in humanity again, but every time I try they show the fuck back up…even in my dreams…even the ones that are dead."

He pressed his eyelids together, god he wanted to kill them all with his bare hands. "Ren, when you're here, or with me, you're safe. No matter what. They get anywhere near you and I'll kill them without even blinkin." He looked down at her, "You ain't gotta worry about nothin when you're with me. Even though you can kick ass as much as the next one, I'll always protect you."

"It's so fucked up because I know you mean it and I trust you, but I'm so fucked that I can't believe it, and it makes me hate myself even more." Her voice cracked as she spoke through tears.

"Don matter if you believe it, cause it's true." He moved a strand of hair from her face, "So don hate yourself, you did nothin wrong."

"I did somethings wrong." She muttered.

"But what they did to you wasn't your fault, and what you did to them because of it, they had comin." He cupped the side of her face, "No matter how bad it was, how guilty you feel about it, when you wanna talk, I'll listen. Cause I've done bad shit too. But that don make me a bad person."

She nodded, "Yeah, thanks Daryl."

"Now c'mon. You need to get actual sleep." He kept an arm around her shoulders as he walked her back to the house. They went inside and up the stairs and when she walked into the room she was staying in he stopped her before she shut the door, "Ren, there ain't no keys to the doors here. Locked doors stay that way 'til the person inside unlocks 'em."

She gave him a small smile, "Good night."

"Night." He nodded back as she shut the door and he heard the clicking sound of the door being locked.

* * *

She hadn't been home in two weeks, but as she hooked the backing on to the last panel, she knew she would be back there in a few hours. Daryl was already loading her things into her car since he knew she was almost done. As much as she was looking forward to being back on the campus, she couldn't help but feel like she would miss seeing people every day.

There was a knock on the side of the garage as she stood up from the panel. Turning she saw her Uncle. He gave her a small smile, "You going back today?"

"Yeah."

"Want me to come with you? I know you've got balls the size of your brother now, but that doesn't mean you have to be alone." He walked in towards her.

"I'm used to being on my own now." She told him, "I'll be around when there's work that people need done."

"Can I at least know where you're staying?" He asked.

"No, it's safer for me if less people know." She felt a little sad saying this to him, she could tell the man she knew growing up was still in there, but she wasn't sure if he would die to protect her.

"Alright." He tried not to sound disappointed and changed the subject, "Is this panel done?"

"Yeah, she's ready to go."

"What is it with you and calling every electronic a she?" Negan asked lifting up one end while she took the other. "I mean I've heard you call plugs a she before, and trust me I don't think the one that goes inside something else is a she."

"Women can go inside of each other, just not with a dick." She replied as they carried the panel out to it's spot.

"I don't know if I want this conversation to stop or be proud of how much of me is in you." He smirked.

"When you word it like that, I want the conversation to stop." She grimaced at him.

"Aww! Serenity Mae! That was too far! And with me, that's saying something!" He cringed.

She laughed, "You said it, not me."

"I know but you're the one who read into it." He couldn't help but smile, it was nice having moments where they could be like how it was before and joke.

"So, it's true then." Rick said with a smile coming up to them, "When I saw Daryl packing up your car, I didn't think it was possible that you'd be done already." She shrugged at him with a small smile. He looked at all the panels in their new spots with the reflectors set up in front of them, "We really appreciate this, Ren. It would have taken us months to figure out how to fix this if it weren't for you."

She waved him off and acted like it wasn't that big of a deal, which to her it honestly wasn't, she fixed things like that all the time, except it was servers and computers instead of panels, before the munchers came around.

Daryl came up to them, "You ready?"

She nodded and waved good bye to Rick and Negan as she and Daryl walked over to her car. He handed her the keys and a walkie talkie, "It's long range, I put the charger in your bag. I have the other one so if you need anythin, just let me know. I'll let you know when I'm makin a run to you, so you know. Keep in contact."

"I will." She told him, "Thanks. And thanks for the silencer."

"I'll teach you to shoot ore when I come to see ya but you know the basics already, so you should be able to use it just fine." He rambled. "Make sure your cars hidden and keep an eye on them pipes."

"I'll miss you too Daryl." She laughed at him.

"Yeah." He tried not to seem upset that she hadn't decided to stay.

"Thanks for going and taking care of my plants while I was here. I'll be sure to make you a nice dinner next time your over." She gave him a hug.

He hugged her back tight, hoping that she would be safe. When they parted, she gave him a smile while opening her car door.

"Hey wait a minute!" She heard before getting into the seat and turned seeing Aaron running up to them. She stopped as he held out a bag to her, "Its alfredo sauce and noodles, Daryl told me how much you liked it, so I made you some to take home." Ren took the bag from him with a nod of thanks and he added, "And you know, if you end up missing us too much, you're always welcome."

She nodded, "Thanks Aaron."

Aaron was shocked at this as she got into her car, she'd never said anything to him before. Daryl tried to hide his smile as she started her engine and the gate opened up in front of her. As she put the car in drive, she gave him a small smile and a wave, before driving back to her home.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry guys, I know this was a shorter one, but I promise I'll have another one out _very_ soon. Be sure to let me know what you guys think :)**


	13. Chapter 13

"Ren."

She heard over the walkie. Brushing the dirt off her hands she made her way over to where her water and the walkie were on the roof. Picking up the device she clicked the button, "Yeah?"

"How much meat you got left?" He asked.

"Give me a minute, I'm on the roof." She said as she headed back inside and down to where the refrigerator was. She looked inside there and the freezer and told him, "I still have about two weeks' worth since you gave me a whole deer."

"So you don need any?" He wanted to be sure.

"I don't, unless you're looking for an excuse to come and see me." She smirked.

"You doin alright? You need me to come?"

"I'm fine Daryl, I appreciate your concern, but I've gone more than two months without someone checking in on me. But if you want to stop by you can." She laughed. "However, if you have other things that are a priority then you should do that. No more using me as an excuse to get out of deliveries when it's your turn."

"That ain't what I was doin." He replied.

"Uhhuh, lie to me all you want, I know the truth Daryl Dixon." She smirked, "If you have spare meat after all of the other places that you hunt for, I'll take it."

"Alright." He muttered.

"Hey, I do have a question though."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, I was wondering if you guys have ways of making baby food?" She asked.

"I don know."

She leaned on her counter, "Well I was looking around the campus for a way to reinforce the pipes and finally got into the commons and took a look around the kitchens and there might be some useful things for mashing up meats and pureeing stuff to be able to give the kids the nutrients they need."

"I'll ask the others and see if they might be interested." Daryl replied, "I'll let you know if I'm headin that way after."

"Alright. Talk to you soon." She said back.

"Yeah."

She headed back upstairs and put the walkie back where it was before taking a sip of her water. Never would she have thought she'd be communicating with someone constantly who was associated with such a large number of people, and even though most of the time that was their only means of contact, it made her not feel as alone as before. When he'd told her there were two other communities other than Hilltop and Alexandria, she had become slightly worried that maybe the guys were with some of them, but he assured her that it was good people in all of them.

Looking from the plants she was re-soiling to the walkie, she picked it back up, heading inside to change, knowing that Daryl would contact her back in less than thirty minutes saying that he was on his way, making it pointless to keep working.

* * *

"Any walkers in there?" He asked.

"No, I cleared it out already and this is the only way I've found in so there shouldn't be any new ones." She told him as she unlocked the door to the largest building on campus.

"You cleared this whole place yourself?" He couldn't believe it with how big it was.

"Yeah, took a few days, but I got it done." She shrugged. As they walked in, she led him to the cafeteria area. "Hey, I've been wondering something."

"Hmm?"

"Why do you guys call them walkers?"

"Don really know. I guess ca'use they just keep on walkin." He answered, "Why, what'd'ya call 'em?"

"Munchers." She answered.

"Munchers?" He asked, looking at her weird.

"Yeah, you know, because they're always eating. Like they've got the munchies, doesn't matter if they're full or not." Ren looked at him and raised an eyebrow, "You trying to tell me that makes less since than 'walkers'?"

"Nah, just didn expect it is all." He kept walking.

"Why not?" She asked.

"Just not something I would have expected a genius like you to do." He answered.

"Yeah, I know. A lot of people said that, but a lot of people who lived in California did it and a lot of smart people do it to get inspiration." She shrugged, "But you're right, I only tried it once. I preferred alcohol."

"That's a little better." He replied as she pushed open a door and he saw a full food court. Unable to believe the decorations, and the nice chairs, the huge ceiling that was made of glass he asked, "So this was college?"

"For this school yeah. Each place was different. My campus had two different dining halls that served meals cooked to order. We also had some fast food places on campus." She started walking through the hall then realized what she'd said, "Sorry, that probably sounded really pretentious."

"Wouldn't know. Never been on a campus before I met you." He told her, "Don know if that's better than this or not."

She wasn't going to tell him that it was, she'd been given scholarships and grant money to go to the best and most expensive schools in the country, and that made her uncomfortable because how much other people paid to go there. Making her way to the kitchen area she pushed the door open for him to go through.

"My turn for a question."

"Yeah." She closed the door following him into the large space.

"Why are you so ashamed of it?" He asked.

"Of what?"

"How smart you are." He looked at her.

"What do you mean?"

"Every time you talk about it you apologize or brush it off. You go back on what you said as if you wished you hadn't."

She swallowed hard, his blue eyes boring into hers, "It's…it's not that I'm ashamed…"

"Then what?"

"People always treated me like I was special, like I was different because of how smart I was." She walked further into the kitchen, "I just wanted to be normal, like everyone else. I mean I started high school when I was twelve. Everyone put me on a pedestal, and I didn't want to be up there. I don't like complaining about it either because I know that some people would have killed to be given the chances I was given, but at the same time I would have killed to be like them." Ren let out a slight laugh, "I mean I was a senior in college when I went out on my first date and I wasn't even legal yet. And then when I talk about things like the fact that I went to a better college than this one that was more expensive and that I got a dream job _during_ my masters program, I realize that I think it sounds like I'm better than the person that I'm talking to when I'm not, it's just that kind of stuff is all I know, so I apologize because I feel bad that they weren't able to experience it too, because I know when I hear about them getting to go to prom I'm jealous."

"I didn go to prom neither." Daryl told her, "I dropped out of high school when I was fifteen."

"Really?" She cocked her head to the side, "I wouldn't have expected that."

"What'd'ya mean?"

"I mean you just don't seem like a drop out." She looked back at him, "Like yeah I can't see you having your nose constantly in a book, but I can see you doing well in shop class and chemistry. Hating English because the teachers try to convince you there's symbolism in everything when there isn't. But I didn't see you as a drop out. You're not stupid and you don't seem like a quitter."

"Yeah, well, shit was different back then." He said surprised she thought that he was smart considering just how smart she was.

She let out a slight laugh, "Yeah it was."

Walking around the kitchen she saw what she was looking for and pointed, "This is the stuff I was talking about, blenders, smoothie makers, food processors. They seem to have it all. Plus, there are pots and pans if people need those."

"You don want any of it?" He asked.

"I mean there were a few things I grabbed but other than that I'm good." She told him, "Doesn't take much to take care of just yourself."

"By the way, you never told Maggie what you wanted in exchange for fixin those AC units." He said while pulling things down from shelves.

"Don't really need much." She answered, "Maybe a blanket or two, it takes too much power to try and heat the whole level I live on during the winter."

"You could stay with us durin winter. Plants don grow then." Daryl looked over at her.

"I'll think about it." She chuckled lightly, "I'll stick to being useful and not a burden for now."

"You ain't a burden." He told her.

"It was a joke, Daryl. I know you don't think I'm a burden." She patted him on the shoulder. "Now what all of this stuff are you taking so we can pack it up."

"Tryin to get rid of me that quick?" He smirked.

"No, I was going to make you dinner and everything, but it's going to start getting dark soon and with that it'll get chilly too." She told him, before looking up at him with a hidden smile, "Unless you want to leave ASAP."

"Nah, I can stay tonight."

* * *

She was curled up in bed under three blankets. This was her favorite part about winter, being able to curl up under a lot of weight and be nice and warm. It was almost as if she slept deeper too, like her body was going into little hibernations. However, a loud bang from downstairs startled her awake.

Throwing the blankets off of her she slid on her tennis shoes before running to the stairwell. The constant, quicker but quieter banging she heard told her that it wasn't from the front door. It was the pipes. "Shit."

Ren flew down the stairs and looked at the gauges on the wall. They were about to bust. She grabbed the wrench and started tightening the nut she was used to having to turn for the water to stop but it made the banging noise louder. She tried to focus on where it was coming from and it was where she'd replaced one of the pipes, it had been a little bit smaller, but she'd sealed it with the welder. It was to high for her to reach that shut off valve on foot, so she ran to the corner of the room and grabbed the ladder she had.

Moving back over to the pipes, trying to ignore the loud and invasive sound she climbed the ladder and began trying to turn the bolt. The pressure on it made it even tighter and she strained every muscle she had.

The hot water heater exploded. Pressure from the flooding water knocked her ladder over and Rens head slammed into the concrete floor, knocking her unconscious.

* * *

 **A/N: Let me know what you guys think :)**


	14. Chapter 14

"Hey, Daryl!" Negan called coming up to the man who was working on his bike.

"What?" Daryl didn't stop what he was doing.

Negan looked down at him. "How's Ren doing?"

"Good last time I saw her." Daryl now stopped and looked at Negan, "Why?"

"When the next time you're going to see her?"

"Don know, probably a few days." He shrugged, he didn't want it to seem like he was constantly worried about her, so he tried to give her space but checked in on her every day at least.

"I was just wondering if you could be a dear and ask her if she could come and visit soon, stay the night. I wanted to talk to her about something." Negan gave him a wide smile.

"Like what?" He asked.

"You know, family stuff. Nothing to do with you."

"She ain't gunna come unless she knows what it's about." Daryl stood up wiping his hands off, he would still tell her though that Negan wanted to talk to her. It wasn't his place to get in the way of their family dynamic. "And if she ain't gunna come, ain't no point in me wastin my breath tellin her."

"Come on Daryl." Negan grinned, "I know we went through some rough times, you and I, but think about it. You're really close to my niece, who is in fact my niece making her and I family, and so that practically makes us family doesn't it?"

"No." Daryl started walking away from him.

"Dammit Daryl, I just wanted to do something nice for her!" Negan got agitated, "If I tell you, you'll tell her, and then she won't be surprised."

"I'll think about it." He kept walking away. Heading to his house he went into the kitchen and made himself lunch. Taking his sandwich to his room he kicked back onto the bed and laid there eating, thinking about Negan asking him to get Ren to come back to Alexandria for a night. He knew it would take a lot of convincing and a good reason. The only way he'd gotten her to stay as much as she did with the solar panels was because he promised to go water her plants every day.

He laid there for a bit after finishing his food then groaned, knowing he should tell her now rather than wait until later, that and so Rick wouldn't tell him to be nicer to Negan again. Getting off the bed he grabbed the walkie from his waistband and turned the volume up, "Ren."

Daryl waited, knowing sometimes she wasn't right next to the thing, but when a minute went bye he called again. Once again there was no reply. "Ren, answer me!"

Nothing.

He ran out of his room, bounding down the stairs and out of the house. Rick was on the porch and stopped him, "Daryl, what's going on?"

"Ren, she ain't answerin me." Daryl told him. "I gotta go."

He shoved past Rick and ran to his bike, calling for them to open the gates. Riding faster than he probably should given that the roads weren't being upkept anymore he made it to her home in record time. He didn't even put the bike up on it's kickstand as he went for the front doors and as he pushed against them, he realized they were locked. He called out her name, maybe she was on the roof and didn't take the walkie, but there was no reply.

Moving around the building, he knew where he could try and get in at. It was the same window that Leon had broken in that he'd reinforced so that way no one else could get in. He slammed against the wood trying to get it to break while still calling out to her, hoping for a reply. Never getting one, and not being able to break through the wood he took off his vest, wrapping it around his hand and moved to the window next to it. He punched through the glass and reached in, undoing the latch, he would fix it later for her. Getting the window open he slid through into the dorm room and made his way to the door, unlocking it and heading to the stairwell and going to the second floor where she lived.

Yelling her name he got no response and he looked in her room, the main room, every room he could get into and couldn't find her. He found the walking on its charger in her room and his heart started beating fast. Where the hell was she? She had to be there. She had to be, he refused to think that she'd been taken. He didn't even know how he would track her if she had been, the whole area was paved.

He made his way to the roof and checked all of them and still there was nothing. Making his way back down the stairs he heard something really quiet at the bottom, it sounded like water dripping. The pipes. Bolting down the stairs he saw a wet floor at the end of them and rushed into the room.

That's when he saw her. Unconscious on the ground, the ladder over one of her legs, and she was soaking wet from the water pumping out of the fallen water heater. Daryl rushed over to her, moving the ladder off of her leg before checking for a pulse. When he found one he let out a slight breath of relief as he gently moved her face to look at him. "Ren, Ren wake up."

She didn't, her lips were blue, and Daryl felt blood on the back of his hand. Moving his arm under her leg to try and pick her up he realized she was freezing. The water around her was cold and she was in shorts. He figured she must have been in bed when this happened given how she was dressed.

Carrying her upstairs, he laid her down on the couch then went to her room to get blankets and he covered her in them before wrapping his arms around her trying to get her warmer, while taking a look at the side of her head. There was a small cut, but since it had been in the water it hadn't stopped bleeding. He needed to get her somewhere so she could be properly taken care of.

Gently he laid her back down and began looking around the common room for her keys, he couldn't have her on the motorcycle. When he finally found them, he put them in his pocket before picking her up again, this time with the blankets around her and carried her outside. As he was setting her in the car, he knew the place that was the closest to the dorm was Kingdom. They had a doctor and medicine so he knew that they could help.

As he put the car in drive, he reached over to put his arm around her, pulling her closer to him to still try and help warm her up, turning the heat on in the car too. When he pulled up to the gate, he knew they wouldn't recognize the car and he didn't know if he had the time to yell so instead, he put the car in park and hurried over to the passenger's side, pulling her out of the car, "Open the gates. She needs a doctor!"

When the gates opened, he rushed inside with Ren and began heading right to where the doctors were but told someone to move her car inside before they shut the gates.

Carol heard the commotion and made her way to where Daryl was carrying a girl, "Daryl who the hell is this?"

"Ren. She's the one that saved me. She needs help." Daryl told her as she opened the door to the medical room.

The doctor, Dana, came up to them, "What happened?"

"Not sure, I think her water heater exploded. But she fell, she's gotta cut on the back of her head and a ladder landed on her leg." He set her down on a bed and showed the bruise on the girls leg, "She was freezing too."

"Still is." The doctor said as she pointed to Carol, "Get more blankets, anything to get her warm." She pointed to Daryl, "You, I need you to hold her head up so I can take a look at the wound there."

Carol went off to get more things and Daryl gently cupped the sides of Rens face, lifting her head up, putting a hand on the back of her neck to keep it supported. Dana looked at the cut on the back of the girls head and she put on gloves, "She needs a couple of stitches and then I need to check for a concussion. Hopefully she doesn't have any swelling in her head because we do not have the equipment for that."

"What'll happen if she does." Daryl asked the woman, who just gave him a look back. Ren would die if that were the case. He looked back down at Ren who still wasn't moving and swallowed hard.

"Just hold her still while I get this done. We can give her an IV with an anti-inflammatory just in case." The doctor said as she prepared a needle.

"Alright." Daryl did as he was told.

When Carol came back in with blankets, she had Ezekiel with her, "I hear we have a guest."

"Yeah." Daryl said, concentrating on keeping Ren still.

"Is this the one who had helped the others with their technology?" He asked.

"Yeah." Daryl repeated. "You all keep her livin, and I'm sure she'll fix whatever you want when she's back on her feet."

"We'd help save her regardless." Carol put a hand on his arm, "She saved you, we'll save her."

"We hope." Dana said tying off the last stitch. "Alright, you can lay her back down, get those blankets over her."

Daryl laid her down as Ezekiel and Carol worked at covering her with the blankets. Daryl could see some color coming back into her lips and when Dana was done checking her eyes with the flash light, he looked at her, hoping for good news.

"Well she does have a concussion, which means we need to give her an IV for sure." Dana sat back, "Depending on how long she'd been out will be the factor of how much it'll help if she does have swelling in her brain." The woman moved to get an IV and put it in the girls arm before adding in an anti-inflammatory. Then she moved the blanket away from Rens legs where a nasty looking bruise was forming. She squeezed and moved the area. "As far as I can tell it's not broken, just badly bruised. I'll have to see if she wakes up if it hurts, but the IV should help with that too. Now all we can do is wait."

"There ain't nothin else?" Daryl asked her.

"Sorry, before I could have done a lot, but now…well I don't want to risk taking out a part of her skull just to have her brain not be swelling and have her die of blood loss."

"Right." Carol smiled at the doctor, "Thanks Dana."

"Yes, you have done tremendous work here today." Ezekiel smiled at her.

"Keep an eye on how warm she's getting, if she gets to hot, she'll dehydrate from sweating. Check her temperature by comparing it to yours. I have house calls to make." Dana said moving from the room.

Carol motioned for Ezekiel to leave with her and he nodded, understanding that she and Daryl were best friends. She watched as Daryl made sure that the blankets were tight around Ren and when he slipped his hand into the girls she said, "You must go to see her a lot to have found her this soon."

"Nah, I check in on her every day over walkie." He ran his thumb over the back of Rens hand, "She didn respond today so I went over."

"She always responds?" Carol sat down on the other side of the bed.

"Yeah. It's how I know she's still there."

"So she's a flight risk then?"

"Nah. She doesn plan on going anywhere." Daryl looked to Carol, "People might try and take her though."

"What?" Carol leaned forward.

"Bad group of guys. They held her hostage…hurt her. Then she killed some of them and got away. They're huntin her now." Daryl told his friend, "One found her, and I killed him. She answers so I know that more haven't found her."

"Why the hell doesn't she go somewhere else then?" Carol asked.

Daryl looked down at Rens unmoving face, "She don have nowhere else to go."

"Alexandria!"

"She don wanna be there, not yet. She don trust people."

"She trusts you apparently." Carol watched him close. "If she doesn't trust anyone why would she trust you?"

"Don know…maybe because I've never tried to hurt her when it's just us." Daryl shrugged. It'd taken her a while to trust Aaron enough to talk to him, and that was only because Daryl was gone so much, and it was just the two of them. He couldn't think of any other reason it could be.

"Hopefully that's true." Carol started standing up.

"What?" He asked her.

"Hopefully her story is true, hopefully she does trust you because it's about time we met someone that didn't try to kill us." Carol put her hand on his shoulder, "I have to go take care of some things, let us know if she needs anything."

"Yeah." Daryl looked back down at Ren as Carol left the room. He moved a lock of hair behind her ear, it was finally starting to dry. Putting his hand on her shoulder he noticed she was a bit warmer and reached under the blanket to feel her leg. When he felt how warm she was getting he took two layers off of her before sitting back down next to her. He wouldn't move until she woke up.

Putting his hand back in hers he felt something on her palm, and when he flipped her hand over to look, for the first time he noticed scars on the inside of her hands, some were small, and some were thicker. He wondered if it was something those guys had done to her, but it could have also just been something that happened while she was doing something with electronics.

* * *

 **A/N: So I feel like I'm kind of flying through this story (I'm just really excited to see ya'lls reaction to everything haha), so hopefully I keep up a good pace like this (at least once every other day, I don't wanna burn out). But let me know what you guys are thinking! Again I love ya'll reviews 3**


	15. Chapter 15

As she started to wake up, she noticed it was strangely bright in her room from the light shining through her eyelids. Opening them up she flinched away from the sunlight beaming in right in front of her, using her hand to cover her eyes. Remembering that her bed didn't face the window her heart started beating fast and then she noticed the IV in her arm. Her breathing got rapid and then she heard someone walking in and sat up quickly, looking at the older woman with short curly hair.

"Ah, you're finally awake." The woman said, "My name is Dana, I'm a doctor. You're in the Kingdom. Daryl brought you here after…well after whatever the hell happened too you. You thirsty?"

She didn't answer, instead just looking at the woman, trying not to be noticed as she used her peripheral vision to look around for something to use as a weapon. Dana sighed at her then moved to the door, calling out of it, "Carol! She's awake."

And with the doctor went back down the hallway she'd come from. Looking around quickly she saw a syringe, it wasn't much, but it was something to take care of one person. She quickly hid the hand that was holding it under the blanket as the door opened again and another woman walked in, she was a little younger than the doctor, but her hair was short and all the way grey. The woman smiled at her warmly, "How are you feeling? We were starting to think the worst."

She didn't answer, just staring at her, and Carol nodded, "Right, Daryl said you wouldn't talk to me if you woke up. My name is Carol. I'm a really good friend of Daryls. I don't know if he's told you about me or the Kingdom but that's where you're at. I'm sure you'd be a lot more comfortable in Alexandria with your Uncle, but we were closer, and he was worried you wouldn't make it that far."

The woman seemed nice, that didn't mean anything but the way she talked about Daryl it sounded as if she did really know him. Carol sat down in the chair beside the bed, "He barely left this chair the three days you were out. In fact, he only left it because Rick needed him. But you must have known he just radioed saying that he was almost back." Carol smiled at her, "Ren, Daryls a sweet guy as I'm sure you know, and it seems like he's got a soft spot for you. I get that you two have saved each other and all that, but if you're going to try and trick him, or hurt him just know that wouldn't be a smart thing to do."

Ren motioned for a pen. Carol got up from her chair, "You going to write your response. Alright."

Carol brought her a pen and a piece of paper. Ren wrote on it, " _He saved me from a fate worse than death. I'd kill anyone that touches him, just like he would for me._ "

She showed the paper to Carol and the woman saw the look in her eye and as much as she wanted to doubt the girl, she couldn't doubt that look. "Good. Just so we're clear on that then. Do you want any water? Or food? You have to be hungry."

She motioned like she was drinking, and Carol got up and got her a glass of water. Taking the water, she sipped it and the woman sat by her still, "Don't tell Daryl I wasn't in here when you woke up by the way, I had to go help my son with something, he didn't want me to leave your side."

Ren nodded with a smile, apricating that Daryl would want to make sure someone one he trusted had eyes on her the whole time. They sat in silence for a little while, which was probably for the best considering she didn't feel like writing anymore with the headache she had. She couldn't believe she'd been out for three days, and that depends on how long it was before Daryl even found her…it was probably sometime that same day though considering she wouldn't have been able to answer his check in. She felt bad, he'd probably freaked out when she didn't answer him. He'd probably thought the worst. And it was all because she hadn't learned about plumbing.

Footsteps thundered on the steps outside the door and it flung open and Daryl was standing there, his eyes immediately going to Ren, who was awake and sitting up. Her eyes met his and she gave him a small smile before he rushed over to her, wrapping his arms around her. She returned his hug and whispered in his ear, "I'm sorry."

"Don." He let her go slightly, moving her hair out of her face, careful not to hit her stitches.

Carol got up as he sat down on the bed and went down the hallway so that the two could talk without her there, but she stayed just close enough to be able to hear.

"I made you worry." Ren said once Carol was gone, "You probably thought they found me, but I just fucked up a pipe."

"I found you in the basement. You were freezin', your lips were blue, and you had a gash on your head." He cupped her cheek, "I thought you were dead."

"I'm sorry. One of the pipes I replaced was too small, I guess it messed with the pressure and the water heater exploded." She told him, her eyes falling to her lap, "I should have read up on it more and not just assumed it would be okay. Thank…thanks for bringing me here…and for coming to look for me."

"You didn answer me when I called. You always answer." He made her look at him, "If you hadn't of been there and alive, I'd have looked for you day and night until I found you. And I would have killed any bastard that had touched you."

Carol smiled, hearing this because she knew now what Ren had written earlier was true, but the way he spoke to the girl had her slightly worried.

Ren nodded, "I know you would have, so thank you."

"Don go back there." His voice was soft, "Don go and be alone anymore."

"Daryl…" Her eyes softened looking at him, his blue eyes desperate for her to say okay.

"I know you aint been around people in a while, but I told you, people can't be alone now." He had to figure out a way for her to say yes, "Just one or two nights a week to start, during the winter while we fix the pipes." He added, "Negan wants to see ya."

"Yeah well Uncle Negan is not on my list of priorities right now." She gave him a small smile, "Plus Carol said you were with Rick, he could have come back with you."

"I told him not too…" Daryl looked ashamed, "I didn want to have you get upset while you were healin."

"Thanks, he probably would have done something to piss me off." She gave a slight chuckle. "And maybe."

"Maybe what?" He asked.

"Maybe I'll stay a night or two during winter. I won't have hot water for a while, so I won't be able to take showers." She moved his hair out of his eyes, "We'll see how it goes from there."

"Alright." He replied.

"Okay Ren, I need to see if you can stand up and walk." Dana came back into the room with Carol following her. She looked at the doctor confused, "Daryl said the ladder landed on your leg, I want to make sure that it's not broken. The bruise has gotten nastier since you got here but the swellings gone down, so I'm hoping that there isn't any internal bleeding."

Ren nodded and slid herself towards the edge of the bed slowly. Daryl helped her stand up since it had been so long since she had. When she was standing and the blankets weren't on her anymore, she got a good look at the purple, green, and blue bruise on her leg, she could even see dark red patches in it. Daryl kept a hand around her waist as she took a few steps, just in case it was broken and she ended up falling. But when she put pressure on the leg it was only slightly sore. She looked at the doctor and gave her a thumbs up.

"I thought you talked when he was around?" Dana looked at her.

She shook her head and Daryl added, "She don talk when other people are around."

"Well I need to know a little bit more than a thumbs up. Is there any pain at all?" The woman asked.

Ren whispered in Daryls ear and he repeated it, "She said it's a slight pain where the bruise is but it ain't as bad as her headache."

"Yeah well that's from having a cut on your head and a concussion. No more climbing up on ladders when other people aren't around." Dana said. "I think you should stay for another day or two at least so I can keep an eye on your condition, but other than that you should be fine if you can walk and get around on your own."

She gently moved out of Daryls grasp and walked to the window then back to the bed and looked at the doctor, "Alright, then. My work here is pretty much done. Stay away from cold water in the winter too."

Ren saluted the woman as a gesture that she understood, and Carol couldn't help but smile at this.

* * *

 _"Ren, do you think we'll be out of here soon?" Becca asked through the wall._

 _"You ask that every day hermana." Sera said from across the hall._

 _"And the answer's always the same." Charlotte spoke next._

 _"Don't worry, I'm coming up with a plan." The three of them spoke together._

 _Ren laughed at them, "You think I'm joking but the more they take me out of here, the more I'm figuring it out."_

 _"It's almost time though…" Becca said._

 _"Shit it has been eight months for you hasn't it?" Sera said._

 _"Yeah." Beccas voice was sad, "Does it hurt?"_

 _The other three were silent. They had all been through it, Charlotte was four months, Sera was six. Ren opened her mouth then sighed. Becca forced out a laugh, "That bad then?"_

 _"Some pulling…tugging…a little bit of burning?" She tried to tell her friend, "I mean, I can't say for someone as far along as you, Sera is the closest to where you're at."_

 _"It was pretty much the same for me…I just think mine took longer." Sera admitted, "It's a weird thing…like I didn't even want kids, but it still just didn't seem right you know?"_

 _"Nothing about this is right." Charlotte muttered. "Hey Ren."_

 _"Yeah?" She responded._

 _"When you figure out how to get out of here…you're going to take us too right?" She asked._

 _"No, I'm just going to leave you all to rot." She spoke sarcastically._

 _"Shit, bitch I wouldn't put it past you." Sera used her Venezuelan accent to add emphasis on her words making it drip with attitude._

 _"Don't worry. When we get out, we're all getting out." Becca told them. "If you guys can make this enteral hell interesting god knows how you can make life out there fun."_

 _Charlotte let out a chuckle then both Ren and Sera broke out laughing at Becca, who joined in soon after. They're laughter was silenced moments later though as they heard the door to the cell block was opened._

 _"Rebecca, it's time for us to get the bun!" Thomas sang as he walked down the hallway._

 _"Yeah, you should be about ready to pop!" Michael followed._

 _They listened as the doors to Beccas cell were opened. Ren swallowed hard, knowing the ordeal her friend was about to go through, already having done it twice and going to have to go through it again in a month._

 _"Shit, her stomach is huge! Do you really think we'll be able to suck that all out in one piece?" Leon asked._

 _"I think for once you might be right." Michael said, "We might have to cut it out of her."_

 _The cell block was quiet with tension and fear as Ren heard Becca mutter, "What?"_

 _"We don't have any pain killers or a way to knock her out." Leon told his brother._

 _"And if we were to hit her on the head…might damage the brains function to nurture the baby." Michael followed up. Ren rolled her eyes, that's not how that shit worked but it showed just how stupid these two were, and sadly Michael was the smarter of the two._

 _"Oh, I have this." Timothy said._

 _"Dude, where the hell did you get a taser gun from?!" Leon sounded way to excited, "I wanna try it out!"_

* * *

"Can't sleep?" Daryl asked finding Ren downstairs in the middle of the night fiddling with the toaster.

"I heard Michonne complaining about it yesterday, so I figured I'd take a look at it since they're letting me stay here for free." She replied.

"At three in the mornin?" He leaned on the counter.

"When I wake up from them…the nightmares, I'm used…" She tried to continue but it was strange to say. Taking a deep breath, she finished, "I'm used to seeing her face."

"Who's?" He asked.

"Becca." She put the screw driver down, it was hard for her to talk about it, "My best friend. I..I uh- have her picture hung, right by my bed."

"What was she like?" He wanted to help her, but he didn't want it to hurt her in the process.

Ren let out a slight laugh, "She was a nerd. Like if you think I'm bad, Becca was ten times worse. She wrote computer code, it was insane how fast she could type." She leaned on the counter, a small smile on her face, "She used to love these text-based computer games, where you type in what you do next and it's just all words no controls, and she would go through them so fast. She could read the screen and type in a command before I was even done reading the second sentence. She had no idea how to even hold a screwdriver though. It's like all her fingers knew how to do was type…and paint her fingernails. Always had a perfect manicure, even up until the day we left our apartment."

"How'd ya'll meet?" He asked.

"Work." She looked up at him, "We were in the same orientation class. She'd just graduated, and I was working as an intern and she asked what my degree was in and when I told her it was a masters degree she looked at me and said 'Holy shit so you're the genius everyone keep talking about! You don't look like I thought you would.' When I asked what she meant by that she assumed I'd be like fourteen or something but since she'd taken summer classes, she graduated with her bachelors early and was only a year older than me. We were inseparable from that day on."

"How long ya'll know each other?"

"Fou-Five years." She corrected herself, "I always forget to count the year that we were held. It's like time stopped when that happened, despite the fact of us being very aware it hadn't."

Daryl didn't want to ask anything else now that the subject had moved away from her friend. Ren picked the screwdriver back up and took the toaster with her to the island, sitting down at it to work on the item. She didn't look at him as she spoke, "She tried to blame herself…for us having been taken. We'd gotten a flat on the highway and she flagged them down. It was a trap, I'd found something in the tire and more of them were waiting for us off the side of the road if we ran…the truth was though, it was my fault we got kidnapped. It was my idea to leave California, to go looking for my family. I should have known that if Hammond never showed up it meant he was gone…It's such shit because I knew that my dad was gone after watching what little news I could before the broadcasts stopped. Hospitals got over run. And Hammond had taken him to one to make sure he was taken care of, and I knew that I wouldn't ever see my dad again…I should have known I wouldn't see Hammond either. Becca would still be alive if it hadn't of convinced her to go."

"That ain't your fault." Daryl looked at her, "None of it."

Ren looked up at him, tears in her eyes, "She left because of me, because I asked her too, what happened to her is on me."

"No it ain't." He shook his head, "She made her choice to go with you. You didn force her. You didn make her go. She went with you because she wanted to go with you. You didn know that there was gonna be people like that out there, that those pieces of shit were gunna do what they did to her. That ain't on you. It's all on them. They killed her, not you. I'm sure you both did everythin you could to look after each other."

"Yeah," She had a small, sad smile on her face, "we did…or well we tried."

"C'mere." He waved her over.

"What?" She asked, but still got up and walked over to him. Freezing slightly as he wrapped his arms around her, she relaxed into him, hugging him back. "Thanks…I haven't talked about Becca since it happened."

Ren looked up at him and smiled, appreciating what he'd just done for her. He gave her a small smile back, moving some hair out of her face, his thumb running over her temple. Looking into her green eyes he wondered how the hell anyone could have done to her what those guys had done.

Her throat tightened and she pulled away, "I should probably try to finish fixing the toaster, it's almost done."

"Right." He let her go, "I'll see you in the mornin. Try to get some sleep."

"Alright." She replied as he headed for the stairs. "Daryl." He turned to look at her as she sat at the kitchen island with a smile. "Good night."

"Night."

* * *

 **A/N: This one was a little long, but I decided it wanted it to be longer rather than too short. Let me know what you guys think :)**


	16. Chapter 16

Daryl went up the stairs headed for the room Ren was staying in. The others had managed to convince her to stay in Alexandria a few days a week while they went to her home to fix the pipes and replace the water heater. He knew that even with how much he tried, it was Maggie that had won her over on the idea, telling her that if Hilltop knew the location of her dorm then they would be able to extend their search area to around where she was to be able to warn her about anyone getting to close. He also knew that Ren felt that since Negan had killed Maggie's husband, she owed the woman to do what was asked of her.

As he passed by the bathroom on the way to her room he stopped, seeing her in there, leaning towards the mirror with scissors, cutting her hair. He moved to the door way, "Hey."

"Hey." She said back, her tone the same as when she was concentrating on fixing something with wires, "What's up?"

"Cuttin' your hair?" He asked.

"Well Daryl Dixon," She said, dropping the lock she had been working on to look at him in the reflection of the mirror, a smirk on her lips, "I believe we've found a hidden talent of yours. The ability to state the obvious."

"Hush." He glared at her as she chuckled grabbing another lock to cut. "Maggie wanted me to let you know that Earl said he should be done makin pipes by the end of next week and then they can finish installin everything."

"That's quick." She dropped the lock and checked her hair, tousling it to make sure it was all the same length about. When she was satisfied, she put it up in a pony tail.

"Says the girl who fixed eight solar panels in less then three weeks." He scoffed.

"Yeah well, plumbing seems a lot more complicated than I originally thought it was." She shrugged. Taking a look at him, she motioned her head to the toilet, "Sit down."

"What?" Daryl grew concerned.

"You need a hair cut more than I did." She told him.

"I don't." He protested.

"Really?" She asked before reaching up and moving the hair that normally fell over his eyes to where it was back falling over his eyes then pointed, "Because where I come from, those are bangs, and they aren't supposed to go to your chin unless you're going to see a _My Chemical Romance_ concert and trying to hard."

"Who?" He asked.

She rolled her eyes with a smirk, "It's not important. You need a haircut, so sit the fuck down and let me give you one."

"You any good at it?" He looked at her as he slowly moved to the toilet seat.

"You just watched me doing my own." She said, moving her fingers through his hair making sure that everything was how he normally had it, "I'll only take off a womans inch."

"Womans inch?"

"Yeah, it's accurate to a real inch, unlike a mans inch." She told him and he let out a soft laugh. Taking a lock from the underneath of his hair in between her fingers, she snipped the proper amount off, catching it in her palm then showed him, "See, it's not much that's going away, except maybe by your face."

"Alright, go ahead." He sounded more bitter than he actually was. Daryl knew she was bored there, she didn't really have much to do, other than fixing minor things like coffee pots or a watch for people, she was just sort of there. So, if cutting his hair made her happy, he wouldn't say no.

Ren slowly and carefully made her way across his head, her fingers coming through his hair to make sure the length was the same as she cut it, sometimes double-checking areas. He sat there patiently, letting her do her work, feeling her finger tips grazing his skin gently and when she moved around to be in front of him her fingers brushed his cheeks as she looked at the hair on the sides of his face. She measured it out to where they fell about to his cheek bone, "Would there be alright?"

"Yeah." He said, his eyes on her, taking her in as she concentrated and carefully cut the hair that was sticking out between her fingers, "You're good at this."

"You haven't even seen it yet." She smiled.

"Where'd you learn how?" He asked.

"I didn't, just copying every hair dresser I've been to." She answered him, her eyes meeting his, "You're the first person I've ever done besides myself."

"Well you seem good." He told her.

"Thanks, but wait until you see if you even like it before you go giving me compliments." She looked back at his hair, a smile still tugging at the corner of her lips.

"Alright." He held back a smile as she continued working on him.

As she finished, she combed her fingers through the front of his hair to make sure everything was even before moving it back off to the sides of his face, "Okay, take a look."

Getting up he moved over to the mirror and nodded, "Looks good."

"You don't give two shits, do you?" She tried to hold back a laugh.

"Nah, not really." He admitted with an apologetic smile.

"Thanks for letting me do it anyways." She put the scissors down on the sink counter, "I'll go grab a broom to get all of this off the floor."

"Alright." He said, "Then you wanna go work on your aim?"

"Sure. I have absolutely nothing else to do." She moved past him.

"It ain't much different from your place." He watched her go.

"Are you kidding?" She turned and looked at him like he was crazy, "That place is huge, there's always something to do or a place to explore."

* * *

"Bring it up just a 'lil." Daryl put his hand under hers, gently guiding her hands up while she held the gun, his other hand on her shoulder. "Remember, keep both eyes open, line it up, then squeeze."

She'd gotten better, she no longer had to take a deep breath in every time she fired a gun. It still took her a moment though to line everything up, but once she did, she knew not to hesitate and squeezed the trigger. Ren fired over and over, him trying to teach her how to deal with the recoil, and once the gun clicked, she stopped.

"That was good." He told her, looking at the target, "You pull slightly to the right, so you need to make up for that." Moving behind her, he put his arms around hers, adjusting the gun slightly to her left. His body was warm against hers in the cold winter air and she swallowed hard at the feeling of his breath on her neck. She didn't know what was happening, it'd been since before the munchers her chest had felt tight in this way. His voice entered her ear, "How's that look?"

"Jus-uh, just left of the target about an inch." She tried not to stammer.

He seemed to have not noticed this, "Alright, reload and try again."

Moving away from her as she did this, he lost the scent of peppermint from her hair. Daryl never realized how damn good that scent was until he smelled it so frequently on her. It wasn't as bad as when she used cinnamon scented shampoo though, because he always ran the risk of her realizing that he was smelling it. He didn't want to scare her away by being creepy, but when she would go back to her dorm for a few nights, he couldn't help but miss it, and her smile, and laugh, and just her.

Having reloaded the gun, she aimed to where he had put her before and she repeated her actions, firing until the gun clicked, and when she lowered the gun she smiled, seeing that she'd hit the center of the target. Turning she smiled at him, proud of herself, "I actually hit the center."

"Yeah." He smiled back, enjoying how happy she was.

Putting the gun back in it's holster she moved to him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "Thanks, soon you'll only have to worry about me when it comes to pipes."

"I'll always worry about you." He hugged her back.

"I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult." Ren looked up at him, an eyebrow raised slightly.

"Compliment." His eyes met hers and his stomach felt tight as the teasing expression from her previous statement slowly faded from her face and all that was left was her green eyes staring up at him and her lips lightly parted.

She realized how she was looking at him and moved away quickly, grabbing their small bag of bullets and snacks, "It's-uh-it's going to get dark soon."

"Yeah." He moved to put his crossbow back on his back and once they were ready, they began their walk back to Alexandria.

When they arrived, Carol was there visiting, and Ren kept on to the house as Daryl stayed to talk to her. Carol looked at him, "What were you two out there doing?"

"I'm teachin her how to shoot." He answered.

"Was that all?" She inquired.

"What'd'ya mean?"

"I mean the way you look at her Daryl." Carol sighed, "She's around half your age."

"It ain't like that." He muttered. "Even if it were, it wouldn't happen, not with what she's been through."

He started to walk away, not wanting to think about it, but Carol grabbed his arm, "Do you want it to be like that though?"

"Don matter what I want." He shrugged before walking away.

* * *

 **A/N: So I just had to give Daryl a tiny bit of a hair cut, I think it's something that would drive Ren a little nuts haha. Let me know what you guys think :)**


	17. Chapter 17

She walked through Alexandria, her jacket pulled tight to her body. It was so cold out she could see her breath in front of her. Negan had said to meet him behind the house he stayed in, near the wall once it got dark and she had no clue why with how cold it was he would want to meet outside. When she turned the corner, she saw him sitting next to a fire, another chair beside him and she couldn't stop the small smile on her face from growing. She walked over to him, "Hey."

"Hey." He smiled up at her, "I know it isn't much but–"

"It's perfect." She sat down in the chair, "It reminds me of home."

"Yeah, me too." He looked into the flames, "I couldn't find anything to make s'mores though, but I did manage to get these."

She watched as he picked up something wrapped in foil and she smiled, taking it and the metal skewer it was offered with, "You can never go wrong with cheesy potatoes."

"No, you cannot." He laughed and they both stuck their potatoes on the skewer and held it over the fire. Negan then handed her a beer and she couldn't help but smile, it'd been a really long time since she'd had one. As they sat waiting for their food to cook, he said, "I hear your place is going to be ready soon."

"Yeah, Earl is really good at what he does, and the Kingdom had a plumber, so I seem to have gotten lucky." She told him.

"With more than just that…if Daryl hadn't realized something wasn't right, it could have gone way worse." He looked over at her.

"Yeah I know. I'll make sure to not work on things I don't know about that well until I know about them a decent bit." She assured him, "Last thing I wanna do is blow up another water heater."

"You know, if you hadn't of gotten hurt and almost died, Hammond would have laughed his ass off at the fact you blew something up." Negan gave her a smirk.

"Please, he would have laughed his ass off seeing me try to figure out how to syphon gas." She let out a slight laugh.

"Oh god I can only imagine." He chuckled while pulling his potato away from the fire, squeezing it to see if it was done. He put it back in, "Should be about another minute or so."

"Alright." She relaxed into her chair while holding her skewer, the heat radiating from the fire taking the chill away from her.

"Daryl doing a good job teaching you how to shoot?" He asked.

Ren nodded, "Yeah, I'm pretty comfortable with it now. I don't think I'm ready to take on a horde of munchers or anything without my knives yet, but I could take out like one or two in a pinch."

"That's good. You should have as many options as possible to be able to protect yourself with." He looked at her and he couldn't believe he was about to suggest this, "Maybe he should even teach you how to use a crossbow."

"You think?" She asked, surprised her Uncle would want her spending more time with Daryl.

"Yeah, I'm sure we could find you one and it's long range ammo that you can make more of easily, so you aren't dependent on having to always look for more bullets." He pulled the potato out of the fire, squeezed it, then nodded to her that it was done, and she pulled hers away, unwrapping the top part of the foil. "Either that or maybe someone could teach you how to use a regular bow if you don't want the crossbow."

She blew on her potato, steam billowing off of it, "No I think it's a good idea, I just didn't know that crossbows were all that common."

"I'm sure we could find one." He told her before biting into his food. She did too, it was hot, but it was so good. He always knew exactly how much cheese to put into the potato before wrapping it up. They ate in silence for a moment before Negan made a sound of remembering something, "Right, I've been meaning to ask you, what happened with that guy you were dating?"

"You mean Chris?" She asked and he nodded, "We broke up right after it all started."

"Damn, what a dick." He said.

"I broke up with him." She laughed, "I mean yeah it was shit because I really liked him, but he wanted me to leave the bay area with him, but Hammond was coming and I wasn't going to leave until he got there and he wouldn't wait with me so I broke up with him so he didn't feel obligated to stay with me."

"Still kinda a bummer, you guys were together almost a year." Negan took another bite, "At the same time though he was to scrawny."

"What?" She laughed, covering her mouth as she chewed.

"He was! You need someone with muscles, someone who's going to protect you." He looked over at her, "Not that you need protecting, equality and shit."

"Says one of the men who's literally spent half his life protecting me." She smirked at him, "But you're not wrong, I spent most of my life around men that made sure I was safe and taken care of so it wouldn't be that different for me…"

"But?" He waited.

She smiled, " _But_ I don't need as much protecting as much as I did before, so I don't want someone that always treats me like a damsel in destress."

"That's fair." He agreed, "But when it comes to whoever these assholes are that are after you, I'll protect the shit out of you whether you like it or not."

"If you're around to do it, I'll let you protect me from them…a little." She allowed him.

"What do you mean a little?!" He laughed, "I'm gunna play whack-a-mole with those dick bags."

"Oh, I get a few licks. Trust me." She gave him a pointed look, "But I'll let you have your moment too as my big bad uncle."

"Thank you." He grinned.

They continued on eating more potatoes and vegetables on the campfire while talking until late in the night. When they were done, and the fire was just embers they each headed back to their houses. As she walked, she felt something land on her cheek and brushed it away, feeling something wet. Looking up she smiled seeing snow little flurries falling around her. Ren continued her walk back to the house but instead of going inside she sat down on the porch steps, watching the snow fall.

Daryl was going outside to smoke a cigarette and when he opened the door, he saw Ren sitting on the steps. Looking over he saw a blanket left on the swing where Michonne had been reading earlier that day and he grabbed it, feeling how cold it was out. Bringing it over, he draped it across her shoulders to cover her. She looked up slightly started but then smiled, pulling the blanket closer around her, "Thanks."

"Yeah." He said sitting down next to her, lighting his cigarette. "Whatcha doin?"

"Watching the snow." She looked back up at the sky.

"You like snow?" He asked.

"Kinda." She squinted, "It's a weird love hate relationship."

He smiled, "How so?"

"It started snowing the night I escaped." She looked at him, "It would cover up my tracks and they wouldn't be able to follow me, and I thought it was a sign that everything was going to get better…but snow is also very cold. And all I had was a t-shirt and shorts on, not even any shoes. I had my car at least so that helped a bit." Crossing her arms to be over her knees she laid her head down on them still looking at him, "Then I got to the campus about a month or so before the snow started and that made it very hard to find food since I didn't have the ability to grow any before it started. So it saved my life, but also almost killed me. But I've always loved winter because it's the only time all of the family would get together."

"Speaking of get together." He took a drag of his cigarette, "How'd it go?"

"Good. We talked and ate and stuff like we used to do when I'd visit him and Aunt Lucille." She shrugged as much as possible in the position she was in.

"You guys good now?" Daryl asked.

She shrugged again, "We're getting there, I guess. Things are just all around different now. It's not just what he did or how he's changed, but it's me too."

"Way he acts it's like you're a lot different than you were before." He looked down at her, snuffing out his cigarette.

"I am." Her voice was soft, "I used to love being around people, socializing, laughing… I used to care about people and the world."

"You still do." He told her, "If you didn, I'd be dead."

"And that would suck." She scooted closer to him, wrapping one of her arms around his and putting her head on his shoulder, "Because you're the first person since I escaped that I like being around."

He tried not to stiffen as she nuzzled into his shoulder. Trying to think of something to keep her from falling asleep like this so he wouldn't have to wake her up again he remembered, "I got you somethin."

"Really? Why?" She asked, he kept doing all of these things for her and she hadn't done anything for him, and it made her feel a little bad.

"I saw it and thought of you." He looked down at her, "C'mon, it's inside."

"Okay." She moved away from him and stood up, keeping the blanket wrapped around her as they walked inside and up the stairs towards his room.

"It ain't much…" He said as he picked up something from on top of his dresser and brought it over to the door way where she was standing.

She couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face as he put the dreamcatcher in her hand. Running her thumb over one of the feathers hanging off of it she looked back up at him, "You're a sweetheart, you know that?"

He didn't say anything, just looked towards the floor shyly as she took a step closer to him. Wrapping her arms around him she whispered, "Thank you."

Daryl didn't move his face up to look at her, feeling it grow warm as he felt her lips on his cheek. When she broke away from him, he rubbed the back of his neck, not really sure what to do next. It was awkward for a moment when she decided she would finally break it, "I think I'm going to take a shower, knock the chill off before I go to bed."

"Kay." He nodded.

"I'll see you in the morning." She gave him a small smile and he nodded again, smiling back at her. Motioning to the dreamcatcher she told him, "Thanks again for this."

"It was nothin." He muttered and his eyes finally met hers again and he could tell that she was actually thankful for it and not just being nice. "Night Ren."

"Night." She told him before walking back to her room. Once in there she undid the knot of the string on the dreamcatcher before wrapping it around the top part of her head board, tying it right above where she slept. She ran her hand over the strings and couldn't help but smile. The tightening in her chest and the uneasiness of her stomach made her scared, but at the same time she was glad to know she could still feel these things after what had happened, because she wasn't sure if she would ever feel them after that.

* * *

 **A/N: See you guys with another chapter soon! Can't wait to hear what you say about this one :P**


	18. Chapter 18

Knocking on Maggies office door she watched as the woman turned, Herschel in her arms and smiled at her "Ren, come in."

She walked into the room and Maggie put out a paper pad and a pen for her, but she shook her head, "I wanted to say thank you."

Maggie gave her a wide smile, "You don't have to thank me, but it is very nice to hear it."

"I wouldn't have been able to fix the plumbing nearly as good as your people did especially during the winter." Her arms awkwardly went into her pockets, "You didn't have to help me…considering my Uncle…"

"You aren't your uncle." Maggie told her, "What he did has no reflection on you, I want you to know that. We take care of our people and you're one of them, regardless of what he did."

"I appreciate that." She still felt ashamed, Maggie no longer had her husband because of Negan, "But I owe you guys a lot of work for fixing my place up, so let me know if you ever need anything."

"I will. And I appreciate that too." Maggie opened her mouth to ask something then closed it again.

"You can say it." Ren knew it was either going to be about Negan or about the men hunting her.

"I was wondering…was Negan always like that?" She asked.

Ren shook her head, "No, he was always a bit of a hard ass, and probably a little too inappropriate but he never laid a hand on someone unless they had put hands on someone else first. The things he told me he did and the things I've heard from other people…I couldn't have ever imagined him doing. But I've done things I couldn't have imagined myself doing either…"

"I think we all have." Maggie gave her a small smile while bouncing her son.

"Herschel," Ren looked at the baby boy, "You named him after your father, right?"

"Yeah." Maggie looked down at her son with a big expression and the boy gurgled a giggle back at his mom.

"Daryl told me about him a little, he sounded like a good man." Ren couldn't help but smile at the two of them.

"He was." Maggie looked back at her, "Do you know if your parents are still around?"

Ren shook her head, "My mom died when I was six from cancer. Dad…dad was in the hospital when it all happened, so I knew pretty early on he didn't make it."

Maggie nodded, "Your dad was Negans brother right?"

"Yeah."

"Was your dad anything like him?" Maggie couldn't imagine that he was given how sweet of a person Ren was.

"A bit." Ren shrugged, "He was nicer, more docile. Wasn't as hands on, but he wasn't really able to be when it came to me."

"Why's that?"

"His accident was part of it, but I also think he just didn't know what to do with me." She told her, "I started building computers right after my mom died, plus he knew how to raise a boy, not a girl and I wasn't even a normal one of those. I think he was relived a little when they determined that he wasn't fit to take care of me anymore."

"I'm sorry." Maggie tried not to frown.

"Oh, don't be." Ren smiled at her, "It's not that he didn't love me or want me, he just wasn't sure how to raise me, and my brother and I got along so well and he was so supportive that I think my dad just knew that I would go further and have a better life if my brother were making most of the hard decisions. My dad knew nothing about skipping grades or private school scholarship's and things like that. It was easier for my brother to learn it all because there weren't any generational or technological gaps for him. We still lived together and everything, my brother was just legally in charge of me."

"That makes sense then." She understood.

There was a knock at the door and when they turned, they saw Jesus standing there, "I was just wondering if we were going to be having a guest for dinner."

Ren looked to Maggie, who responded with, "Up to you, we don't mind cooking an extra plate for you."

Looking back at Jesus she nodded. He was just as good of a cook as Aaron.

* * *

Making her way down the stairs she heard the drill when she reached the first-floor landing. Following it to the room it was coming from she leaned on the door frame as she watched Daryl screw the thick boards into the wall covering the windows. When the noise stopped, she said, "You know if you board them up all the way like that, how will you break in next time I hurt myself?"

"Easy." He turned and looked at her, "You ain't gunna do nothin stupid to hurt yourself again."

"If you say so." She couldn't stop her smirk, "Come on, dinners ready."

He put the drill down and followed her out of the room and back up the stairs. She asked as they walked, "So, how much longer are you planning on staying?"

"Want me to leave?" He asked, hoping that's not what she was getting at, but he understood if it was.

"No, it's just you've been here for almost a week now. You never stayed this long before." Ren moved the plates from the counter over to the small table for them, "I was just wondering how much more food I needed to pull out of the freezer."

"I can stay or go whenever you want." He shrugged grabbing his fork, hunching over his plate, not looking at her.

"Why-" She stopped herself, not really sure if she wanted to ask this question or not, but she'd already started so she did anyways now that he was looking up at her, "Why have you stayed this long?"

All he had to say was that it was because he wanted to make sure she was safe. All she needed to hear was that he was staying just to make sure it was properly fortified and that he was sure nothing would happen to her once he went back to Alexandria or something along those lines and that would make all the things going on in her chest and mind stop. She would know it was all just him being worried about a friend, like friends do, and that's all it was, was friendship.

"Cause I miss you when you ain't around." He was honest, focusing on his food, wondering why the hell he was just honest.

"I miss you too." Her voice was soft, even though it wasn't what she'd wanted to hear, it made her happy to hear it.

They were both frozen where they were sitting, neither one of them was looking at the other. She was afraid of what he might see on her face, and he was afraid he might do something stupid.

"Will you come back then?" He asked.

"Eventually maybe." She answered, "I'm not ready to be there full time yet. Around all of those people."

"I understand." Daryl moved his food around his plate.

She slid from her chair, going over to one of the drawers and looking through it before grabbing something and going back to him. "You can come over anytime you want. You don't have to let me know first either." Ren held a spare set of keys out to him, "They're for the front door and the stairwell, so you don't have to break again."

"Thanks." He took the keys, his hand lingering over hers for a moment, his eyes finally meeting hers as he said, "I won tell no one I have 'em."

"I appreciate that." She gave him a small smile, "I'm really glad I didn't let you die that day in the forest."

"Me too." He responded, letting go of her hand.

She sat back down at the table and they finished their dinner in a comfortable silence. When they were done, he said he was going to go back down stairs to finish what he was working on and she stayed upstairs to clean up.

Coming back upstairs Daryl wasn't surprised at all to see her curled up on the couch watching the TV. He noticed she was bundled up in a blanket, "Cold?"

"Yeah." She looked up at him, "Aren't you?"

"A lil." He answered back. "You want me to grab you another blanket?"

"No, you can use one though." She told him.

"I'm alright." He shrugged sitting down on the other side of the couch.

Reaching out from under her blanket she took his hand, "You're ice cold! Go get a blanket."

"It's fine." He'd been down stairs working all day except for dinner, he didn't want to miss out on just having time to sit with her and he didn't know where the nearest spare blanket was.

"It is not. Stop being so stubborn." She tried not to laugh at him, "I'll go get you a blanket then."

She moved her blanket off of her and began to get off the couch, but he kept her hand in his not letting her go anywhere, "I'm fine, you don have to get me one."

"Daryl, I can feel your skin, you're freezing." She looked down at him, but he didn't let go of her. Letting out a sigh she grabbed her blanket from off the couch and put it over him, a smart-ass look on her face to match her tone, "Now I have to go get me a blanket."

"Nope." He tossed it back off of him, playing her game, "There's one there."

"Alright then, fine." She sat back down, right next to him and put the blanket over both of them.

He instantly regretted not getting a blanket in the first place now that he could feel the heat of her through his clothes against his side. Swallowing hard he asked, "You warm enough?"

She shrugged, not able to be as curled up as before, but at least he would have a little bit more warmth then sitting in the cold room without a blanket on. He knew she wasn't, she'd had the blanket doubled over her before and now it was just singled. Slowly, carefully, nervously he moved his arm to be around her shoulders and pulled her into his chest. Her heart was beating so fast she was sure he could hear it as her head leaned on his shoulder.

"Better?" He asked, hoping she couldn't tell how tight his throat was.

"A little." Rens voice was soft, shy.

"Here." He said, gently sitting her up so he could resituate so that his back was leaning against the arm of the couch. Slowly he moved her to where she was leaning on his chest, and as nervous as she was to be practically laying on a man, she felt safe as he took the blanket, wrapping it and his arms around her. Hoping he didn't cross a line he asked, "This okay?"

"Yeah." She said, shifting slightly to get more comfortable, her hand laying gently on his peck. He was afraid to breathe as they laid there, he didn't want to do anything to scare her, the last thing he wanted was for her to stop trusting him. She looked up at him slightly, "Are you getting warmer?"

"Mhmm." He answered, running his hand down the back of her hair. Setting her head back down on his chest, she nuzzled into him. He leaned down, his lips against the top of her head, "You?"

"Yeah." Was as all she could answer, scared out of her mind by the feelings she knew she had for him now.

* * *

 **A/N: Things are about to start getting a little interesting ;) Let me know what you all think!**

 **P.S. I took Daryl back to season 3 a little bit in this chapter because I feel like that's how he would be with Ren, hope y'all didnt mind haha**


	19. Chapter 19

Rolling up to the urgent care center, Daryl turned off his bike and put the kickstand up. Ren got off first and secured her knives to her wrists, "So they just want to see if there's any equipment I can get to work? They don't want us to look for any medicine or anything?"

"Saddiq and Dana said that if we find anything it's probably going to be expired." He got off the bike, "But if it ain't then we should grab it."

"Alright." She followed him to the front door.

He'd seen this place while out hunting and thought that it might be useful now that they had someone that could work on electronics, since Eugene was more useful with chemicals. Turning to look at her he said, "I'm gunna go in first to clear out any walkers, you stay behind me and only take care of the ones I miss."

"Alright." She knew he was only saying this because he had the distance weapon since it wasn't good for her to use her gun with a limited number of bullets. Plus, since she hadn't found another crossbow, she hadn't asked him about teaching her how to use that too because then it would mean she would have to use his, and she felt weird about that.

As they walked into the main waiting room it was empty, except for a few walker corpses already knifed on the ground. She stayed behind him like he said to and they made their way into another room, one with a medical bed and some equipment in it. The room was clear, so she moved around him and began looking at the stuff. He asked, "What is it?"

"Well that one takes your blood pressure among other things." She pointed to a taller thin one and the lower, bigger, more complicating looking one she said, "This is an EKG, it looks like."

"What's that do?"

"Monitors something in the heart?" She shrugged, "I can't tell you how it works, just whether or not it should be able to."

"Fair enough." He admitted.

She took her back pack off and set it on the counter in the room, pulling out a note book, "I'm going to write everything down for them to be able to go through and decide what they want."

"Alright, I'm gunna keep makin sure it's clear." He turned back towards the door, "Yell if you need help."

"I will." She replied back, her mind fully absorbed in looking at the condition of the wires and machines. He couldn't help but smile at how fast she could go from joking to working.

She focused on checking everything, writing down that the EKG was still in good condition but that the blood pressure machine might not be able to function as well even if she repaired the wires that rodents had gotten too. Picking up her backpack she began to head to another room to look in there but when she made it to the door way she stopped.

"Look who we have here." The man standing in the other hallway smiled, "I wondered if Leon had found you, but I guess it's the other way around."

It was Sean, he'd been with Leon that day in the store when she first ventured out with Daryl. Her fists clenched tight.

"Still lost your voice huh?" He smirked before charging her. Her heart skipped a beat and her mind went into a panic for a moment as he slammed her into the wall. Regaining herself she kneed him in the crotch, and he let out a yell, punching her in the face. "BITCH!"

Daryl heard this from the back of the building and immediately ran to where he heard it. As he turned, he could see Ren pinned on the ground by a man. He ran for them as she head-butted him, managing to get one of her hands free, flicking her wrist, releasing her knife, and stabbing him in the shoulder.

Grabbing the back of the guys shirt, Daryl pulled him off of Ren, holding him by the collar. Sean didn't even cringe at the pain in his shoulder, "The fuck is this dick Serenity? You replace us that easy?"

"Son of a bitch!" Daryl yelled punching him in the jaw. The guy stumbled back but Daryl kept hitting him, even has he fell onto the ground. Every bit of hatred he had towards these people came out as he turned the mans face into a bloody pulp. The fact this man thought he could even say her name was an insult he wouldn't endure.

"Daryl!" She yelled for the fourth time, finally managing to get behind him enough to grab his arm to keep him from punching anymore. Her other arm wrapped around his chest from behind as she held him, "It's over, you're just hitting the floor now."

His breathing slowed and his anger was replaced with concern as he turned around, cupping her face, seeing a bloody lip, "You alright?"

"I'm okay." She smiled up at him, wrapping her arms tightly around him, "I'm okay, but we should check and make sure he was alone…because he probably wasn't."

"Right." He said, "I only checked half the place."

"Okay, then we start where you ended." She told him.

They moved through the building together, checking every room, closet, and door they could open. Daryl attempted to open a door that seemed to be a storage room, but it was locked. He pushed her back as he motioned that he was going to kick it down and she nodded, moving out of his way. Kicking right next to the door handle, the wood cracked, and the door flew open. He had his bow ready pointing into the room.

Ren moved beside him to where she could see inside. Her stomach dropped as a woman with black hair and pale skin moved out from behind shelves with her hands up, "Don't shoot."

"Charlotte?" Her voice shook.

"Ren?" The woman's eyes got wide.

"I thought you were dead." Her eyes started to water and her voice broke, "I thought I killed you."

"No." Charlotte moved out from the shadows, revealing a pregnant stomach as well. "I wasn't in the building."

"Oh God. I'm so sorry." Ren rushed to her, wrapping her arms around her friend, "I didn't know where you were. I looked for you, but I thought I was running out of time."

"Don't. I know you didn't mean to leave me behind. Sera told me how you asked where I was and said you'd try to find me." The woman had tears running down her cheeks.

"You've seen Sera?" Ren felt sick.

Charlotte nodded, "Thomas and Rodger have her and another girl they took on the road. They left me here with Sean since they thought I was close to having the baby and they couldn't look for Leon while also dealing with me."

"Leons gone." She told her friend.

"Did he suffer?" Charlotte asked her, "After all he's done to you, he should have suffered."

"It was quick…but he didn't expect it that's for sure." Ren said looking back at Daryl with a small smile. "Daryl killed him."

"You talk to him?" Charlotte looked at her shocked.

"Yeah." She turned back to her friend, "He's a good man, you can trust him. I do." She looked around the storage room, her arm still around Charlotte, but then looked to Daryl, "Hilltops closest right?"

He nodded, "But we only got the bike."

"There's a car in the back, Sean should have the keys." Charlotte told them.

"I'll go get 'em." Daryl said leaving the two of them alone for a moment, knowing they probably needed it.

"I'm so sorry. I should have looked for you more before I let them know I was out." Ren looked back at Charlotte, tears about to pour from her eyes.

"No, you couldn't have known that I was outside." Charlotte shook her head, "Plus you did what you said, you said you'd get us out of there. Now you're taking me away too."

"Yeah, and where we're going it's safe. They haven't had an incident in two years, nothing. There are three other places like it too." Ren told her, "They'll take really good care of you."

"It's not where you live?" She asked.

"No, I live alone…I couldn't really be around people…after…"

"Yeah I understand."

"But I don't know anything about delivering babies and they do. Once it's born though I promise if you want to come and live with me you can." Ren told her with a smile.

"Like hermanas again?" Charlotte couldn't help but smile back for the first time in a while.

"Yeah, we'll get Sera, and whoever else and we'll be hermanas again." Ren nodded with a laugh.

"Got the keys." Daryl said softly, not wanting to startle the two of them.

"I'll drive us there if you lead the way on the bike?" Ren made sure he was alright with that plan.

He nodded, "Yeah, I'll tell the others this place'll have to wait. Something important came up."

"Thanks." She smiled at him. As they walked to where the car was in the back Ren asked, "How…how far along are you?"

"Almost eight months. They figured this place would be as close to where we were before..."

"Still trying to be civilized fucks." Ren muttered.

"All but Leon." Charlotte told her, "He lost it even more after he got the burns, Michael had to hit him sometimes, lock him away from us because he was threatening to kill us…Somedays I wish he had."

"Not anymore." Ren looked at her friend, "We don't feel like that anymore. We're free." She gave a small smile, "It'll take a while to not be like that, but when you realize it…you won't want to be dead anymore."

* * *

Ren had stayed with Charlotte throughout her entire examination, one in which Maggie was in too since she had just been pregnant not that long ago. The woman had eaten so much food and Ren couldn't help but laugh at her as she shoveled it down. Their rations before had been small, she couldn't imagine how little they'd been on the road.

Once Charlotte was asleep, she made her way outside and sat on a table, looking up at the night sky. Despite the fact the snow had melted there was still a winter chill in the night air, and she wrapped her arms around her.

"Want me to get ya a blanket?" Daryl asked.

"No, I'm good this time." She smiled looking over at him, sitting on the steps of a trailer lighting his cigarette.

Getting up and moving to sit next to her he looked down at her, "Hows she doin?"

"She's a little skinner than she should be, but they said they wouldn't be able to tell if everything was okay with the baby until tomorrow when the power to the trailers is allowed to be turned back on." She rubbed the back of her neck, "But she's full, and asleep, and safe."

"How are you doin?" He asked.

"It's so weird." She looked up at the sky again, "I'm so happy that she's alive…but to have had to endure them from Utah to here…" Her voice cracked, "to have been dragged along following my trail…what kind of hell has she been living in? And she's not alone, there are other that they've done it to too. All because of me."

"Nah." He put a hand on her shoulder, "Because of them assholes. They did that to her, not you. It ain't your fault."

"I have to find Sera and the others." Ren turned to face him, "I can't…I can't let them be held like that anymore."

"Alright." He wiped away one of her tears, "We'll make sure Charlotte is safe, then we'll go and find the others and take out the rest of them bastards."

"Thank you." She smiled up at him, "For everything." Taking his hand away from her face she looked at his wrapped hand, "Did you need stitches?"

"Nah, they just put some stuff on it and wrapped it up." He flexed it, "It'll be fine by tomorrow."

"I doubt that but okay." She couldn't help the chuckle that left her. Looking over she reached across him, to his other hand and took the cigarette from him.

Daryl didn't fight her, thinking she was going to throw it out like Carol does to him but instead his eyebrow raised as she took a drag from it, "Didn know you smoked."

"I mostly did when I drank." She admitted, "And when finals got stressful. My brother would have _freaked_ out. Haven't since we left the bay. I remember thinking 'Well fuck if any time was a time for a cigarette, it's now.'"

"Then why you smokin now?" He asked.

"Because…" The smile appeared on her face, "Because I can. Because today was a win. The number went from six to five and I got a friend back. Because I didn't die today."

"Sounds good to me." He pulled another cigarette from the box, letting her have that one to finish. As he lit it, he said, "Jus don let the others see ya, they'll give ya hard time about it."

"I know." She smirked at him, "I see them pick on you all the time about how they'll kill you. But nothing kills bad ass Daryl Dixon, does it?"

"Hush." He smiled back.

* * *

 **A/N: Next chapter will be up soon! Big things in the next few! Let me know what you guys are thinking! :)**


	20. Chapter 20

**Just wanted to give a warning, there might be some triggering dialog or references in this chapter. I don't think it's that bad, but I wanted to let you know just in case because everyone is different!**

* * *

 _She was putting her shorts back on, the doctor having finished with his removal procedure. Her stomach and legs hurt, but it was a pain she was used to now._

 _"You're a lot more docile now." The doctor said, "Your glare isn't really a glare anymore, more of a broken stare." He turned and smiled at her. "I think that was Leon and Michaels plan. They didn't like how much spirit you still had, they tried everything to break you and none of it worked until it was time for Rebecca to give birth."_

 _Ren's fists started to clench hearing him talk about her so calmly. She could feel the rage inside of her building as he kept going, "We didn't like the idea of it at first, losing one of our broodmares, but the more we thought about it, the more we realized it might be interesting. The child was to the point to where it probably could have survived outside the womb, so if it were to die while still in there, would it then turn."_

 _The doctor turned around to write something in his chart and she was shaking at this point._

 _"Of course, Rebecca was picked mostly because of her closeness with you though. They wanted to kill any ounce of hope you had left to get out of here. She was just a casualty of your resolve."_

 _She lunged forward, shoving him into the counter in front of him and reaching forward she grabbed a scalpel that was on a tray and began stabbing him in the back and neck. Over and over she brought the blade into his skin and blood drenched her as the man stopped fighting back and fell onto the floor._

 _Once he stopped moving, she realized what she'd done and dropped the scalpel. Taking a few steps back she realized the hell she had just signed herself up for by killing the doctor. Looking around the room she tried to figure out what to do, what would she say happened? Stumbling around she knocked over a set of boxes holding medical supplies over and that's when she saw it. A pipe saying CAUTION: NATURAL GAS LINE. She wasn't going to get in trouble. She was going to get out. Moving around the room she grabbed the keys from the doctor and then looked through the drawered needing something big enough to get through the pipe. She didn't have any pockets, so she had to think carefully about what she took._

 _There was a flashlight that might come in handy, so she put it in her mouth. Moving to another set of drawers she opened it and found all sorts of medical type blades. She could only imagine how these things had been used on test subjects, but now one would be used for something good. Picking up one that looked like a saw she took it back over to the pipe and began cutting away at it, it didn't take long before she'd cut a slit in it big enough for the gas to start seeping out. She could smell it._

 _Turning the flashlight on she moved to turn the lights off in the room and looked at where the lightbulb was hanging. She reached up and put her hand around it, squeezing tightly until it shattered the glass, leaving the filament intact. She couldn't even feel the pain in her hand as blood seeped out of small wounds where the glass had cut her, her adrenaline was pumping too fast. With the doctor's keys she left the room, checking to see if anyone was in the hallway and they weren't. She began looking for the gas line out there and when she found it, she cut through it quickly._

 _Making her way to where the holding cells were, she cut the pipes she could find in every room she could, laying traps with broken bulbs. She knew it was a big compound, but she didn't know how understaffed it was, if they had known that they probably could have rioted a lot earlier and gotten out. They would make it seem so full when they were moving one of them._

 _Looking down the hallway she saw Sam standing outside of the ward where they kept all the girls and she wasn't sure what to do. After a moment she took her flashlight and rolled it across the opening where he would see and hear it._

 _"What the fuck?" The man muttered as he walked towards the end of the hallway._

 _When he reached the end and looked, he didn't have time to get his gun as she shoved the saw into his throat. Pulling it out she disregarded his gurgling and took the keys off his waist band, it would open up all the cells in there. Grabbing her flashlight again she made her way into the ward and ran to Sera cell._

 _"What the hell?" Sera whispered._

 _"Sam's dead." Ren said, "I need you to get all of them out."_

 _She unlocked Sera's cell and the girl came out, taking half the keys, "What the fuck is happening hermana?"_

 _"We're getting the fuck out of here." Ren made it to Charlottes cell and opened it, "Where's Charlotte?"_

 _"They took her about fifteen minutes after you, I don't know where." Sera answered opening other cells._

 _"Okay, I'll keep looking for her." Ren said, "You have to lead them out, Sam had a gun, but_ do not _use it in any of the path leading from here to the med ward. Use this instead."_

 _She handed Sera the saw. Sera looked at her, "What the hell are you gonna do then?"_

 _"I'm gunna make a diversion and blow these mother fuckers sky high." She told her friend, "So get the hell out, get as many of them out as you can."_

 _"I'll try. How much time?" Sera asked._

 _"I don't know. So go as fast as you can."_

 _"Okay. Buena suerte hermana." Sera put her hand on Rens shoulder, "See you on the road, yeah?"_

 _"Hopefully." Ren smiled at her, "Now go, quickly and quietly, the path to the south work area was clear."_

 _"Okay." Sera said and she began leading the other girls out._

 _Ren unlocked the door at the other end of the ward and made her way to where she knew the garage was. She looked in one of the storage rooms and found a spare pipe and she grabbed it, using it to whack the pipe in the room. She couldn't help but laugh, it was more efficient than the saw had been. Now she made her way through and was just hitting the gas lines quickly and moving alone, swinging her pipe like a baseball bat when she ran into a lone asshole, while looking every where for Charlotte. She didn't have much time, it wouldn't be long until someone found that the girls were missing, or that the doctor was dead and turned on the light, or Sams body._

 _When she reached the utility room next to the garage she went right through to the garage and saw her car there, "Hey baby, it looks like they fixed your tire and everything."_

 _She saw spare containers of gas and smiled. Looking for her keys on the hangers she grabbed them quickly, unlocking her car and putting gas in the back of the car. Her left hand was shaking now, pain starting to show with all the cuts and shards of glass in it. She opened the garage door in front of her car and moved back into the utility room._

 _Turning off the lights she broke the bulb and broke the gas line. When she moved into the garage, she broke the line there and found butane tanks, opening the valves on them too. She pulled her car out of the garage and went back to shut the door. Getting in her car, setting the pipe in the passenger's seat she wondered if everyone was out, her mind catching up to what all she had just done. She knew Charlotte wasn't, but it was only a matter of minutes probably until someone came upon one of her traps. "Fuck, Charlotte. I'm sorry. I'm so goddamn sorry. Sera…maybe she found you when she got the others out…"_

 _She put her hand on the horn of her car and held it there, waiting. Within a minute she watched as the garage in front of her exploded, then a chain reaction happened throughout the building. She slammed on the gas, driving away as fast as possible._

 _Ren didn't know how long she had driven but it was at least a new day when she saw a sporting goods store of on the side of the road she finally pulled over, her hand throbbing. Going inside she killed the two munchers inside with less ease and grace then she had before she'd been taken. Shivering as she moved behind the counter she grabbed the first aid kit and hissed as she poured the sanitizer over her hand. Finding tweezers in the pack she began pulling the glass out of her hand, making sure to drop it on the counter and not the floor so she didn't cut open her feet._

 _Once all the glass was pretty much out that she could see she moved from behind the counter. It had started to snow, but she was still to close to the compound to stay there. Instead she looked for shoes, any kind of shoes, just something to keep them warmer than exposed. She found a pair of boots on a shelf and put them on, they were a little too big, but she didn't care, they were shoes, and she hadn't worn them in so long._

 _Feeling tears in her eyes as she tied the laces up she sniffled making her way around the store, looking for anything else she might be able to use. God she could probably use all of it. She didn't know how but seeing so much stuff other than those cement walls was like seeing water after being in a desert._

 _Water._

 _She moved around the store looking for some, and when she went back into the storage area, she felt tears as she found an entire crate of it. Struggling to pick up a twenty-four pack she just ripped it open. It was as cold as the air outside, but she didn't care as she gulped down the entire thing. She opened the next bottle and poured it on her face. Her breathing became rapid as she opened bottle after bottle pouring it over her body and scrubbing at her skin. Soap she needed soap._

 _Finding it in a dispenser in the bathroom she filled her hands with it, covering her body with it. But she still felt it on her skin. Soap and water did nothing to get all of the filth off of her and she fell to the floor sobbing and shaking._

* * *

 **A/N: I know this was all flashback but I promise...y'all gonna be happy soon!**


	21. Chapter 21

Saddiq had come from Alexandria to take a look at Charlotte and check on the baby. He walked out of the medical trailer and Ren hopped of the table she was sitting on next to Daryl.

He sighed, "The baby is slightly smaller than she should be. She still has six weeks to go before she's ready to give birth it seems, but I can't be sure given the malnourishment and lack of pre-natals. If the baby is less than two weeks away from birth…I can't say that it'll survive."

"Write me a list." Ren looked at him.

"What?" he asked somewhat shocked she had just spoken to him.

"Write me a list of things she and that baby need to survive the birth and afterwards and I'll get it." She didn't falter, Charlotte had decided she wanted to have that baby and raise it, and she would.

"I mean, I can't promise they'll work." He somewhat stuttered.

"Don matter, anythin to help 'em both, we'll get." Daryl joined them, "I know where there's a hospital we could look for it all."

"Yeah, it should all be there." Saddiq said, "I'll have everything, and the amounts written down by dinner."

"Thanks." Ren smiled, "I know it'll mean a lot to Charlotte if the baby survives."

* * *

Ren was looking through the pharmacy in the hospital, checking the list and putting the items into her backpack. She was very careful with everything; the place was on the brink of falling apart. It was like people had lived there at one point and something bad had happened even after all the world ended. There were bullet holes in the wall and blood spatter on the floor. There were even corridors and hallways blocked off, filled with munchers that made the hospital a maze for them to get to where they were at.

"Hey, you got room for these?" Daryl came into the room holding IV bags, gauze, syringes, and a couple of other surgical supplies.

"Yeah." She replied, opening her other zipper, allowing him to put them in there.

"Almost got everythin?" He asked.

"Just looking for one more thing." She scanned the shelves, "Got it."

Grabbing it in the nick of time, the sound of munchers coming down the hallway caught their attention as she zipped up her bag and they left the room. Looking down the way they came that was now filled with the dead, Daryl cursed, "Damn things must've broken down one of the barricades we passed."

"Then we only have one option." She motioned down the other way which was empty. He nodded and they headed down that way, getting cut off by closed doors every now and then and having to turn a different direction.

As they passed by a blockade it broke, the heavy metal cart falling on Daryl, a walker on top of it. Five munchers came out and Ren flicked her wrists going after them before they could pile on top of Daryl, while he was trying to get to his knife out from under the cart and holding the muncher back from biting him. When she had three of them taken care of, she stuck her blade into the skull of one and used the leverage of its body to defend her from the stretch of the other one.

Daryl finally managed to get to his knife, and he stabbed the walker on top of the cart and shoved the thing off of him. Ren knifed the last walker and let the two bodies fall before looking at him on the ground. She offered him her hand, "Come on, the others are getting closer."

He let out a grunt of pain as she helped him up and she looked realizing there was a huge bloody gash on his thigh where they cart had landed and cut open his leg. Moving to the side of his body that was injured she put his arm over her shoulder and helped him get down the hallway faster. They made it to a cross section in the hallways and the other two doors were shut and locked, one she could see munchers behind and the other looked pretty empty. She let go of him and grabbed the doors they'd just passed through, shutting them quickly and sliding the locks into the top and bottom slots of the ceiling and floor.

"That should hold them if it held those guys." She pointed to the doors that were already shut.

"Yeah." He said leaning on the wall. Taking her back pack off she knelt down to look at his leg. "It ain't that bad."

"Shut up." She pulled out a sanitary pad and gauze, "You might actually need stitches for this."

"It's fine, we just gotta make it down stairs."

"Daryl you barely made it down the hall. Let me bandage it so this way you don't pass out from blood loss." She looked up at him, "It was one thing to drag you across the ground, it's another to have to maneuver you down stairs."

"Fine." He said, "Make it quick, there's a stairwell right there and we don want the noise of the others to cause some to get in there."

"If there aren't already some." She muttered holding the pad to his leg. Quickly she wrapped it with gauze then tied it off. "Okay. Now we can go."

"Kay." He said pushing himself off the wall. He moved over to the staircase, his leg was on fire, but he wasn't going to burden or worry her anymore than she already was. He pushed on the door to open it and it didn't budge. "Fucking kidding me?"

"Is it blocked?" She asked putting her backpack back on. He tried to ram the door with his shoulder, and it didn't move again. She put her hand on his shoulder, stopping him from trying again, "You're going to break your everything if you keep this up. There's another door which will lead to another route."

"Yeah." He looked at the door to the stairs, wondering why it would be blocked from the other side.

Ren went over to the other set of doors in the hallway that lead to another part of the building and tried to pull them open, but they didn't budge, "Well shit."

"Them too?" He asked, leaning back on the wall.

"Yeah, looks like they have the muncher proof locks done too." She knew that if the number of dead pushing against the doors wouldn't break those locks, no show of strength from her or Daryl would, "Alright, so we're boxed in…what do we do?"

"There's gotta be a way to get into the stairwell." Daryl looked at the door.

"Or to get to the other side of the door." She looked out the window.

"What?"

"One of the windows on that side is broken." Ren turned and looked at him, "If we break this one, I could climb over to that side and into that hallway to undo the locks."

"We're four floors up." He limped over to her, the pain really starting to sink in. "You fall, you'll die."

"I know." She took a deep breath, "But what choice do we have? I'm not strong enough to get the stair door open, neither are you, we have to get you out of here to get your leg looked at, so you don't bleed out waiting for us to figure out how to get out of here."

"You ever do anythin like that before?" he asked.

"I mean…I went rock climbing a few times in California?" She half shrugged, knowing this was a stupid idea.

"I don like it." He shook his head.

"Do you have a better idea?" She asked him. He didn't respond and she put her hand on his arm, "Daryl, we need to get you back to Hilltop, we need to get the medicine to Charlotte, and we can't do that if we stay here. The stairwell door didn't even budge, for all we know it's locked. I can do this."

"You sure?" He looked down at her.

"As sure as I can be." She answered honestly.

"Alright." Daryl really did hate the idea, but what other option did they have? He knew that if she fell, he wouldn't be going anywhere, and he wouldn't want too without her. "How we gunna break it?"

"Easy." She pointed at the chairs against the wall behind him, "You didn't hurt your arms."

He rolled his eyes at her with a smile as she moved behind him and handed him a chair. He held it tight and kept his weight mostly on his good leg and chucked the chair at the glass. He was honestly surprised with this place being a hospital that one chair caused a crack to spiderweb across the pane of glass. He'd have thought it would take more. She gave him he chair back and he threw it again with all of his strength and this time the glass shattered, the chair going through it.

They heard the sound of it hitting the pavement outside and Ren tried not to think about how it would sound if she did. Walking over to the now broken window she cleared any excess shards with her bracers so she didn't cut herself and she looked outside the window, seeing grooves in the building she could use to climb with. She accidently looked down and saw how far the drop would be. Her chest went tight as she moved back into the hallway, it would be quick and probably painless if she fell.

"You ready?" Daryl asked, wanting to try the stairwell door one more time hoping that it would open all of a sudden. Ren knew the second she put herself outside that window, all bets were off, anything could happen, including a strong gust of wind.

"Almost." She said before walking up to him, her stomach felt as if she was about to give a speech in front of thousands of people. Reaching up she cupped his face with her hands and got on her tip toes, pressing her lips to his.

Daryl froze and she wasn't there long, pulling away seconds after it registered with him what happened. She went to head back to the window, and he stopped her, grabbing her arm, "Why'd you do that?"

"Just in case." Her cheeks flushed.

"In case of what?" He asked.

"In case I do fall…" She looked up at him, embarrassed, "If I fall, I want the last person who kissed me to be someone I like, someone I actually have feelings for. Not…not one of them."

"Nah." He held her eyes with his.

"…What?" She was confused now too.

"I didn kiss you." He used her arm to pull her back to him, his arms wrapping around her as he sealed his lips over hers. His kiss lasted much longer, it was gentle but filled with every emotion he felt for her and she gripped slightly at his shirt, relaxing into him. When he finally parted their lips, he kept her in his arms, his forehead against hers, "Please don fall."

"I won't." She replied, looking into his blue eyes, "I promise."

"Alright." He slowly let her go and her hand was the last thing he felt leaving his as she went back over to the window.

Ren lifted herself onto the sill and carefully maneuvered herself to where she could get her toes and fingers into the slits in the building. She tried not to look down or think about the thing that she was doing, but instead making sure that every muscle was engaged as she moved along the side of the building. The texture of the walls and slits hurt her fingers, but she wasn't going to let go. Not with him waiting on her.

The corner was the scariest part. Taking a deep breath, she reached out to the other wall then put her foot over. Making sure it was secure she pulled the rest of her body over to the new wall and she let out the shaky air she'd been holding in. Continuing to carefully move along she made her way to the broken window. Once she was beside it, she saw that the glass was still sticking out of the sides and she reached in, using every muscle she had to hold herself to the wall as she used her bracer to clear a spot for her hands and feet. When she was satisfied, she gripped the sill and hoisted herself inside.

When her feet landed on the floor, Ren let out a shaky laugh. It was the stupidest thing she'd done to date possibly but it had worked. She checked the hallway for walkers, and it was clear. She didn't want to open the door and bring Daryl through if they were just going to get ambushed on the other side. Going to the locked doors she pulled the pieces from the top and bottom locks, and swung the doors open, "See! Not a problem."

He wasn't leaning against the wall. She moved back into the cross section and Daryl wasn't there. Her heart stopped as she saw the stairwell door open. She ran down the stairs, there's no way he could have made it far on his leg alone, and there's no way he could have gotten that door open on his own. When she made it down to the ground level, she saw his crossbow lying on the ground. This wasn't good.

She picked it up and slung it over her shoulder, heading out the front door. When she was outside, she heard tires squeal and she ran to the noise, seeing a car speed off out of the parking lot. She yelled out his name, hoping that he was out there and not in the car, but she got no response.

In her gut she knew. She knew it was the men hunting her that had taken him. They had been trailed or something. They might know where Hilltop was then…and Charlotte. But she had to get Daryl back.

"Damn it!" She yelled. They had ridden the motorcycle there, she didn't know how to drive that. Daryl was the tracker, she stood no chance at being able to follow that car. She made a decision. And it sucked. She headed back to Hilltop as fast as she could.

* * *

 **A/N: Be sure to let me know what you guys think! Honesty's the best policy, so let me hear where you guys are at with these two :)**


	22. Chapter 22

**Hey guys, this is another warning for possible triggering dialog and references. You can never be too careful! You're all amazing by the way!**

* * *

When she got back to Hilltop late that night, exhausted and partially dehydrated she was met at the gate by Maggie, Saddiq, and Charlotte. Maggie was concerned, "What happened."

"They took Daryl." Ren told them and looked at her friend, "Charlotte, I'm taking you to another community. It's bigger, there are more places to hide you, you'll be safer there. It's where Saddiqs from."

"Then what?" Saddiq asked.

"Then I'm coming back here and I'm going to look for Daryl." She answered, "They trailed us from somewhere and recently, so this is a good starting point."

"Who was it? Did you see them?" Charlotte asked.

"No, all I saw was two people in the front seats."

"Then how do you know it was them." Maggie asked.

"I just know." Ren couldn't explain it. But she knew the feeling of it being them, she was sure it was them.

"It was Rodger and Timothy. They others are in a group of three." Charlotte told her, "I know the area they're in, but I don't know the building."

"Good, I'll have you put it on a map, but we need to get you out of here first just in case." Ren nodded.

"Yeah, I'll get the car." Saddiq said heading for the vehicle.

"Ren, we'll help. Daryl's one of us too." Maggie looked at the girl.

"Yeah, I know." Ren gave her a small smile, "I just don't want anyone here to end up like we did."

"I know, and we won't." Maggie gave her a confident nod, "I'll see you when you get back."

* * *

"Wakey wakey." Daryl heard as a cold water was poured over his head. His hands were tied behind his back and his legs were tied to the legs of the chair. He shook his head, trying to get as much of the water off of him as possible.

The man who had poured the water moved to sit down in front of him, next to another guy with black hair. He glared at them, he didn't even know if Ren had made it to the other window, if she was still there looking for him. He knew she was alive somehow though. He knew she wouldn't die until she'd saved her friends.

"Shit, man. Don't look at us like that. We just want to ask you a few questions." The blonde said with a smile.

"I thought the south was supposed to be welcoming." The one with black hair looked at his companion.

"Right?" The blonde laughed, "Look, buddy, we just want to know if you've seen a few people…and where they might be at." Daryl didn't say anything so the blonde continued, "We've lost one of our group, she's very pregnant and we want to make sure that she's alright, get her back to people she knows."

"Fuck you." Daryl said to him, he had a feeling these were part of the group hunting Ren and now Charlotte.

"So, you do know who were talking about." The blonde smiled, "Then maybe you know the other too. She doesn't talk. Kinda short and skinny. Her names Serenity."

"She's got a nice set of tits too." The black-haired man added in and Daryl lunged forward at him.

He didn't care if these guys beat him or killed him, but he'd be damned if they'd talk about her that way.

"So, you know her too." The blonde leaned back in his chair, "And look I know what he said to most people was probably very crude, but she liked it when we complimented and played with her breasts."

He would kill them. Daryl would kill them with his bare hands, he would choke the life out of them. He would make their eyes go red with blood as he squeezed his hands around their throat. He would crush their windpipe and make them taste their own tongue as they died. "Your fucking dead men."

"Ah, I get it." The blonde nodded, "You've got a thing for her. It's easy to understand, I mean she is an amazing specimen, small in all the places a woman should be if you know what I mean, but she doesn't belong to you. She belongs to us, we found her, and she owes us a debt for destroying our home. So, where is she?"

"Fuck you." He repeated. These were sick fuckers and he would see to it that they were wiped off the face of the planet. They didn't even deserve to be walkers.

The blonde stood up and walked a circle around him before moving back in front of him and punching him square in the jaw, "See, I don't like having to do things this way, not when you could just answer the damn question. We know about the place with the trailers and the crops. We found it a long time ago, I mean it's not like it's hidden. Same with the place with the theatre that's all walled up. We just want you to tell us which one they're at."

"No." Daryl took another hit from the guy.

"Look, we're going to get them back whether you help us or not. But if you do, we'll go easy on your sweetheart. Scouts honor." He held up his hand in a swear, "But if you don't tell us, we're going to make her pay for your uncooperative nature, you might not see what we're doing to her, but it'll be things your perverted imagination couldn't even dream up."

"You won't touch either of them ever again." Daryl glared at him.

"Fine have it your way." The man replied before looking back at his partner, "Rodger, I want you to go grab all of the little tools we have so he can see what we're going to use on her before we give her to Michael."

* * *

"Ren!" Negan ran after her as she started to get back in her car, "I'm coming with you."

"No, you aren't. You aren't allowed in Hilltop." She looked back at him.

"Then don't start at Hilltop, you have a search area, we can start there." He told her.

"No, we can't. I told Maggie I'd be going back to Hilltop after I dropped Charlotte off here and that's what I plan to do." Her voice was stern but then softened, "I need you here."

"What?" He asked.

"I need someone I trust to look after Charlotte." She told him, "I need her to stay safe and protected, and the only person I trust to do that is you."

"Fine." He didn't like it, but he knew this meant a lot to her, "But you better come back."

"I will. I found my way back home once didn't I?" She smiled at him.

"Yeah." He nodded, holding the car door open for her as she got in.

She drove fast to Hilltop, it had already been a day since Daryl was missing and god only knew what Timothy could be doing to him. They opened the gates seeing her coming and the group of them met around a table. She knew she was breaking the most important rule, but she knew Daryl would die for her, so she was willing to go out of her way for him. She laid the map down on the table, "This is the area that Charlotte said that the others were holed up. It's just four of them, two guys, two girls they're holding prisoner."

"That's a five-block radius." Jesus said.

"I know, but we can make it go faster if we split up, again there's only two of them. Timothy is the tough one but take him out and Rodger should crumble." She told them all, "And if we find Sera or the other girl first, I'm sure they'd be willing to help take them down."

"Alright, we'll split off into groups of two." Maggie decided, "Everyone get guns and ammo prepped as well as a copy of this map to each pair."

They all nodded and got to work. It took them thirty minutes, but they were all about to start getting in the cars when Cal called out, "We got a car incoming!"

Everyone hustled to defense positions. Maggie went up to the look out station and Ren stayed on the ground, not sure if giving herself away was a good idea. Moving towards the wall though, she could see slightly between the logs and she recognized the blonde who was in the driver's seat, Timothy. She knew this wasn't going to be fun. From the backseat she watched as Rodger came out with a Daryl, his hands tied behind his back, a gag in his mouth, and a gun to his head.

Timothy yelled up, "Well hello there, it seems we have something of yours. I think you've also got something of ours. It's an even trade."

"What exactly do you think we have?" Maggie yelled back down to him.

"One of our group went missing, she's pregnant and the father was killed. We just want our girl back, for her to be safe." Timothy said.

"We don't have anyone here that's pregnant." Maggie told him, "It seems you took our guy without knowing everything."

"Perhaps she's at one of your other locations. Because we know she's around." Timothy smiled at Maggie.

Ren knew this wasn't going to work, if they didn't get what they wanted then Daryl would die. She took in a deep breath, having formed a plan and she hated it. But it would save him and get her to Sera and the other girl. Making her way up the stairs she moved to be visible by those down below.

"Well I'll be damned, I've missed that sight." Timothy wore a wide grin, "How are you doing Serenity?" She didn't say anything to him, she knew what was coming next. "Come on now, use your words. Getting these lovely people to lie for you while you have Charlotte in there."

"She's not here." Ren answered back, bile in her throat for talking to him, but she didn't have a choice this time.

"Really?" He didn't believe her, "Then where is she?"

"I put her in a car and sent her away from you." Her voice dripped with venom.

"Wow, you girls really did form quite the little bond didn't you?" He smirked, "Well then, what are we going to do about this little predicament?"

"I thought it was a simple solution and that someone like you would be able to come to it quickly." She looked down at him, a smug smile pulling at her lips as he glared up at him. "Him for me."

Timothy turned and looked at Daryl with a wide grin, "I told you she liked it."

Daryl tried to lunge at him again but failed as Rodger held onto his arms. Ren tried not to flinch as the man hit him in his leg injury. Timothy looked back up at her, "I'll gladly take that deal. You're a lot easier on the eyes."

She nodded, her stomach churning, hoping this would work, but even if it didn't, Daryl would be alive. Heading down back down the stairs Maggie followed her, "Ren, you can't do this…these people-"

"I know." Ren looked at her half way down the stairs, "Trust me, I know…But I have a plan."

"What?" Maggie asked, what kind of plan would be this harmful to her.

"Just make sure Daryl doesn't do anything to get either of us killed before I'm in the car and gone. Give us enough time to make it back to that five-block radius." She told her. "I'll be okay…I've survived them longer than just a few hours."

"Alright." Maggie hated this, she hated it with a fiery burning passion considering they could just shoot the two men and get Daryl that way. But she let Ren play this out her way.

Ren stood in front of the gates as they opened, and she steeled herself for anything and everything. She knew what she was signing herself up for, but it would get her to Sera. As she walked out to them Rodger kept his gun on Daryl and when she was in front of Timothy, he smiled, reaching for her hip, "We'll just take this."

She felt him sliding the gun out of the holster and he aimed it at her now. Looking to Rodger put a hand out, "Tape."

"Right." Rodger reached into his cargo pants and pulled out a roll of duct tape.

"You'll forgive us if we don't trust you." Timothy said to her with a smirk before moving behind her. She put her hands behind her back and her eyes moved to Daryls for a moment, but the quickly moved away as she felt the tape beginning to get wrapped around her wrists. How could she even stomach looking at him during this?

Daryl tried to talk to her despite the gag in his mouth, but she wouldn't look back at him. He wanted her to go back on the deal, not go with them, he'd rather die. His eyes searched her face and body language. She looked ashamed and scared, and for the first time in a long time he was scared too.

"We've missed you." Timothy said as he finished with the tape. Moving his face closer to the back of her neck his eyes locked on to Daryls as he inhaled deeply by her neck before letting his teeth scrape across the nape of her neck. Her stomach churned and Daryl saw her jaw go tight. He pulled against the man holding him, wanting to free her from the hell she must be in, that she must be reliving. Timothy smiled at his reaction, "Jealous?"

Daryl let out a growl, still trying to get free but he was silenced by a look from Ren, her eyes angry and full of fire. The man moved back around her, and Daryl watched as she stood there as the man ran his hand up her arm to her chin and a thumb over her bottom lip, "You've firmed up since then. We're going to have a lot of fun together before I tell Michael I found you. Before we go, I want to check something."

"What?" She asked.

"If it's still there." He smiled. Her face went pale as his hands went for the hem of her shirt.

"Let him go first." Ren said, her voice shaking.

"Why? I want him to see it. Let him know who you belong to." Timothy ran his thumb over the skin of her lower stomach, then he raised an eyebrow, "Or has he already seen it? Did you stoop to that level Serenity? Tell me the truth."

"He hasn't seen it." She muttered, "No one has."

"Good girl." He lifted her shirt just high enough to see her belly button and just below it was a faint scar of teeth marks. Timothy frowned slightly, "It's faded…I guess I'll just have to give you another."

Daryl snapped. He wrenched himself out of Rodgers grasp and rammed into Timothy. Both guns were on him but before anywhere fired she was in between Daryls head and the guns, blocking them from shooting, "Stop, you have what you want, let him go."

"Shut the fuck up, bitch." Timothy back handed her, and she fell to the ground unable to catch herself since her hands were tied. She tasted blood in her mouth and could feel it dripping out.

"Stop!" Maggie yelled, all of Hilltop with their guns out now. Ren looked up at her and Maggie knew what she wanted done, "You give us him back and take her, that's the deal."

Daryl tried to yell to her to shoot them, but Timothy kicked him in the leg making him fall to the ground. The man looked at Maggie, "Really? No matter what?"

"Just give him back." Maggie hated herself for saying it, she couldn't believe she was saying it.

"Alright." The piece of shit smiled at her before kicking Ren in the stomach then grabbing her by the hair, "You tell us what to do again, and it'll be so much worse than you've ever known. We've been waiting for you for a long time."

Rodger kept his gun on Daryl as Timothy picked her up by her hair and dragged her to the car and shoved her in the back seat. Once she was in Rodger left Daryl, the two of them getting in the front seats before turning the car around and driving away.

* * *

 **A/N: So guys, I'm not going to lie, Ren made that choice all on her own. I was just writing, then boom it happened, so don't be mad at me okay. That was all her. Be sure to let me know what you think! :D**


	23. Chapter 23

"What the hell!" Daryl barked as soon as the gag was taken out of his mouth, "You shoulda killed those fuckers!"

"Ren told us not to." Maggie told him, "She has a plan."

"Really? To get taken back and tortured by them? That ain't no plan she'd ever come up with." He yelled as they undid the ties on his hands.

"Come on, let's get your leg looked at then we'll prepare to leave." Maggie said, "She said to give them some time before going after her."

"What?" Daryl asked.

"We have a map to where there at, and now we have you. Which should make it easier to find her. And the others they have." Maggie explained, "She said to trust her, which is something she's done a lot with us, so I think we should."

"Fine, but if shit goes bad…" He couldn't even say it because he didn't want to think about it. This was the last thing he wanted to think about and now all of it was at the front of his mind and he knew that them having kissed would make it worse for both of them.

* * *

She could feel the bruise forming on her stomach but the throbbing pain and blood dripping down from the side of her hip was worse as she was led to another part of the building. They hadn't done anything more than just a couple of hits…and a bite from Timothy, but she knew they wouldn't wait long before starting the rest of their revenge on her. Rodger opened a door and tossed her inside, "Wait here, we're going to make sure none of your friends followed us…then we'll have our fun with you."

The door shut and she muttered, "Dickbag."

"Ren?" She heard from the corner of the room and turned and saw Sera walking up to her along with another girl.

"Sera." Ren smiled and went up to her.

"All this time I prayed they'd never find you." Sera's eyes watered.

"They didn't." Ren told her, "I found you."

"What?" The other girl came forward, "You mean you were looking for us?"

"Yeah, Charlotte told me that they had taken more people, you included." She looked up at Sera.

"You found her? Is she alright? Has she had the baby?" Sera asked.

"No, she hasn't had the baby, she's fine, we got her medicine and she's with a doctor and good people that are looking after her. I promise." Ren answered her.

"Good." Sera was visibly relieved, "This is April, she was taken on the road."

"How the hell did they get you?" Ren asked.

"We made it out, most of us anyways, there were some that wouldn't leave, they were too injured or scared, but the majority of us got free and we ran into the woods." Sera told her. With a laugh she said, "We were out there for two days and it was cold but damn it was better than being in that place. But we heard them following us…some couldn't move that fast, they were tracking us…I gave myself up, so the others had a chance to get farther, they had Charlotte too and she said she saw you driving away. That's when they decided to hunt you. Leon had the map from your car and that's the trail we followed."

"God I'm so sorry. If I'd known-"

"You would have what? Attacked them in a big group? No, you did it right, taking them out slowly, one by one." Sera told her, "But what the fuck were you thinking getting captured?"

"I was thinking of finding out where you were, and then holding our own until the others show up and we can take a car back." Ren told her with a shrug.

"Holy shit, you thought this one through this time." Sera looked somewhat impressed.

"There are others coming for us?" April asked.

"Yeah, good people, I've known them for a while now. Charlotte drew a map of the area, they'll be here in an hour or so, but we need to let them know which building we're in." Ren looked at the two of them, "Know a way out of here?"

"Yeah, but we gotta get this off our hands first." Sera said showing her hands also tied behind her back.

"Should be easy enough." Ren looked around the room.

"There's nothing, we've tried." April told her.

"Yeah, knowing Sera she'd have tried with a piece of yarn." Ren muttered.

"Hey, I do it one time and all of a sudden it's a thing, you gotta let it go hermana." Sera rolled her eyes.

"Never." Ren smirked at her. "Turn around."

"What? Why?" Sera did what she asked then watched as Ren got down on her knees.

"Guess Timothy's sadistic nature can be inspiring." Ren muttered before using her teeth to pull on the tape. She worked at it for a little bit and managed to get a good tear going.

"Shit bitch, why the hell didn't you bite him back with those teeth?" Sera asked being able to rip the tape open the rest of the way now.

"Never let 'em see your whole hand." Ren said standing up as Sera ripped open April's tape and then she did Rens. "Alright, so let me guess this door is locked?"

"Of course it is, you think they would ever give us the chance to get out and beat their asses?" Sera said, "That's why they barely feed us too."

"Well that's all going to change." Ren said trying to get the door open. It didn't budge and she couldn't kick it open with the way it was oriented, "Alright then, time for plan two."

"You have more than one?" April asked her, unable to believe this girl would be doing all of this for them.

"Well, I mean I'm kinda making it up as I go, but they're still more thought out than the first one I ever made." Ren admitted, "Do you guys know the lay out of this place?"

"Yeah." They both answered.

"Well, give me the rundown." Ren said looking through the pretty much empty room, seeing if there was anything in it they could use.

"I have a question first." Sera looked at her.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"They had a guy here earlier…I didn't get to see him, but I heard him." Sera said, "He cussed at them, said that they'd never get to you or Charlotte again…was that one of your people?"

"Sounds like Daryl, yeah." Ren nodded.

"Then they're good people." Sera said, "I'm good with going to them, you?"

"Yeah." April agreed.

"Okay, so do they come together or separate to get you?" Ren asked still thinking about the little bit of stuff in the room.

"Just Rodger." April said.

"To the left of the door is a hallway blocked off with eternos, so we shouldn't go that way." Sera told her.

"Not until we have weapons…but maybe we should make Rodger." Ren said with a smirk. "Grab a sleeping bag."

"I don't know who you are, but you're pretty cool." April looked at her with a smile as she grabbed the bag off the ground.

"You have no idea the kind of things this bitch can pull off." Sera told her, "She blew up their entire place before with just a saw."

"Holy shit, that was you?" April said, "And they decided to hunt you?"

"Yeah, they never were that smart." Ren said taking the sleeping bag.

"So what's the plan?" Sera asked.

"I'm sure neither of you are top of your game, but which one is the strongest?" Ren asked.

"Sera." April said, "I wasn't strong when they found me."

"You're stronger than you know." Sera told her, then looked to Ren, "What do you need hermana?"

"Okay so I'm going to be waiting on the opening side of the door and I'm gunna punch the shit out of him, when he stumbles, you wrap him up in this while I get the gun from him." She looked to April, "You go out the door first and go to the left. Prep to get the door open while me and Sera get him down the hallway. When I say to, open the door enough for us to push him in." She looked back to Sera, "We need to keep hands on the sleeping bag, we can use it to lock the door back up."

"Alright. I think we can manage that." Sera nodded looking at April who was unsure but agreed.

"I think I can handle the door." She said.

"Cool, now we wait." Ren said handing Sera the sleeping bag.

* * *

They'd just finished checking one block but still hadn't found them and Daryl got more agitated and nauseated with every room they checked that didn't have Ren in it. At least he had been able to narrow it down to a two-block radius. But Maggie had made him wait so damn long to leave, and he understood that it was Ren had told her to do, but all that could have been done to her in that time, he didn't even want to think about it.

"This building's clear." Maggie said into the walkie.

"Same with this one." Jesus replied back to her.

"This is takin' to damn long." Daryl said to her, "We need to find them before those assholes do anything to her."

"Daryl, I'm doing what she asked me to do." Maggie told him, "I get it, it sucks, and I wish that there was anything else she'd asked me to do other than let them take her but it's what she wanted. And with what I've assumed from what I've seen, the last thing I wanted to do was give her to them, but…Ren knows them best, so I followed her lead."

"Yeah…well she might not have been in her right mind on this one." Daryl muttered, thinking that Ren's feelings for him might have led her to try and save him the way she did.

"She wanted to get to her friends and save you. It was a way for her to do both." Maggie said, "A way for her to get to them quickly. And I understand that, she's smart, she…she knew what she was doing Daryl."

"Hey do you guys hear that?" Jesus said through the walkie.

"What?" Maggie replied.

"Gunshots, about a block over." He replied, "It might be them."

"Then let's get there." Maggie said but Daryl was already gone.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry guys, I wasn't feeling to good today so this might not be the best, but I didn't want to not do anything. Be sure to let me know what you think :)**


	24. Chapter 24

"Shit!" Sera yelled as the munchers busted through the door. She grabbed April and pulled her back as Ren kicked Rodger in the leg knocking him down causing them to pile on top of him and start gnawing at his skin.

"Run!" Ren told them as others continued after them.

"I'm sorry." April said, "They were too strong."

"You're good." Ren told her as they passed through another set of doors. "Try and get them shut!"

The three of them pulled against the doors but they didn't budge. Ren aimed at the heads and went a little to the left, taking one out right in the skull. She couldn't believe it, but she hit another one in the head. The third only grazed the temple. Not knowing how many bullets were left she decided it was just better for them to keep moving.

* * *

He was making his way up the stairs checking every floor as fast as possible and Daryl prayed to everything he never had before that they weren't to late. Kicking down one door he saw Timothy throwing things in a bag and he aimed his crossbow at him as the man stopped, "Where the hell is she?"

"Damn, man you gotta let this thing for her go." Timothy smiled at him but then his face went hard as Maggie, Jesus and the others came in the room with guns all drawn, "She's gone. I heard screams and eaters."

"Liar!" Daryl yelled at him, "Where is she?!"

"Right here." Ren said coming in the room from the door on the other side, Sera and April behind her, both of them with muncher guts on them. Sera had a pipe on her hands and April was holding onto a butcher's knife as she locked the door. Ren had her gun pointed right on Timothy and Daryl kept his crossbow on the man despite wanting to wrap her in his arms.

"Come on Serenity. After everything?" He smiled at her.

"Especially after everything gilipollas." Sera spit at him.

"Alright then, what are you gunna do? You can't blow me up like the others." Timothy smirked.

"I know." She pulled the hammer back on the gun, "You know the drill. Hands on the wall."

"Excuse me."

"Are you deaf?" Sera asked him.

"She said hands on the wall." April repeated.

The others just watched as the man rolled his eyes and the three women moved around to be behind him. Ren motioned with the gun, "Spread your legs."

"Stick it out a little too." Sera added, a petty tone.

"You guys are fucking serious." The man scoffed as he moved his legs apart.

Ren walked over to him, leaning on the wall looking at him, the gun still pointed at his head, "You're right, we're dead fucking serious."

"This isn't your style sweetheart and you know it." He told her, "You're quieter, not really a showy person, get in and get out when it's one on one."

"You're right." She moved the gun from pointing at him, "It's not my style. But it is hers."

Ren handed the gun to Sera who told him, "You know the rules."

She shot him in the thigh and when he let out a yell and started to crumple, she yelled at him, "No! You stay standing, or are you a little bitch?" She shot him in the shoulder next, "Don't fall, you gotta stay standing! Just like my dad did when you did this to him, yeah?" She shot him in the calf now and they could hear the munchers at the door, "Oh wait that's right, he stayed up because you were threatening his whole family and you don't have shit to be threatened."

"You bitch!" He yelled out as she shot him in the side.

"Oh, you aren't getting off this easy at all." Sera went up to him, "This is for Ren, she's too good of a person to do it to think about herself in this moment, but I'm not." Sera grabbed the back of his head and slammed it into the wall in front of him twice, breaking his nose and his front teeth. "That fucking mouth had it coming. You had all of this coming. You killed my father." She turned him around and put the gun in his mouth, "You tortured and killed my mother, you disfigured my little brother. You fucker you deserve so much worse than anything we can do to you."

"Let them have him before he's dead." April stepped forward, "Just like he did my husband."

"Yeah, alright." Sera looked back at her.

"No." He spoke to her despite the blood dripping down his face, "Don't."

"Finally realized you aren't getting out of this, huh?" Ren asked him, "Now multiply that by _years._ That's the shit you've done to us. To them. Tell me you don't deserve to die."

"We were trying to find a cure!" He yelled at her.

"A cure my ass!" Sera hit him, "A cure doesn't involve letting eternos take a bite to see if it's different for different races, that's murder."

"It doesn't include tasering a pregnant girl to death." Ren said bile in her throat, "Just to wear another one down."

"You're joking. _That's_ why they killed Becca?" Sera looked back at her, "You did it just to break her? You're all worse than the devil himself, you know that? Hell doesn't even have a realm for you. Becca was the best out of all of us."

"Rebecca was weak." Timothy said. "Just like Brittany was before we separated her and April."

"Don't you put my sisters name in your mouth." April snapped at him. "Can we just let him die now and get out of here? Please?"

"If that's what you want, then yeah." Sera said, "You good with it, Ren?"

"Yeah." Ren said turning to the others, "Open that door, take them out, I'm going to open this one."

"Alright." Maggie said putting her gun back up as Jesus started the return back to the ground floor.

Sera handed Ren the gun just in case, "See you down stairs?"

"Damn straight." Ren told her, "I'm going to be right behind you."

"Better be." Sera headed for the door.

Ren kept her gun on Timothy as she walked over to the other door. Daryl didn't leave the room, waiting for Ren to go down the stairs with him. Timothy looked at her, spiting blood on the ground, "Just fucking shoot me."

"No." Ren opened the door and walked away to Daryl who shut the door behind her.

He stopped as she stopped and didn't know what she was waiting for, but she started making her way down the stairs as they heard the man in the room beginning to scream. She was alive and that he was happy about, but he hoped she was as okay as she was acting…he didn't know if he would be able to handle it if she wasn't.

When they reached the ground floor everyone was already outside on the street and both April and Sera were looking up at the sky. Sera turned to her, "It's been so long since we've seen the sun."

"That first day…it was so cold but god it felt amazing." Ren smiled.

"I know, my feet were freezing, and I'd never been so happy." Sera began to cry as she fell into Rens arms.

She held her friend tight and looked to April whose lip was quivering too and opened her arms more and April came over and joined in on the embrace asking, "Is it real?"

"Yeah." Ren nodded, "It's real. It'll take a while to feel it…but it's real."

"Thank you." April said, then looked to everyone outside, "Thank you all so much."

"Of course." Maggie gave them all a sad smile, "We'll take you to where you can be looked at and taken care of properly, then what you all want to do after is entirely up to you."

"Will you take me to Charlotte?" Sera asked.

"Yeah, come on, the cars are this way." Jesus said to them and they started walking to where they were.

Daryl didn't say anything to her, he wasn't sure what to say. How do you just ask about that kind of thing? Plus, the other women seemed to be leaning on her a lot at the moment and he didn't want to take that from them just to be able to talk to her.

When they got to the cars, she helped the two others into the bed of a truck and when she was the only one left, she tried to get up but slipped a little and Daryl came up behind her, helping her up but she hissed at his hand on her hip. That's when they saw the blood and the top part of a bite mark sticking out from her pants. Maggie asked, her face going pale, "We're you bit?"

She answered, her eyes avoiding all of them, "Not by a muncher."

She was able to pull herself up now, Daryl still helping her slightly and she sat down, her gaze not going near him. He put the tailgate up and went to the passenger's seat of the truck.

"Where are we going?" April asked.

"A place called Alexandria, that's where Charlotte is." Ren told them, "These people, they're from a place called Hilltop. There are two other communities with them."

"And you trust them?" Sera asked.

Ren nodded, "I wouldn't be taking you guys there if I didn't."

"Are we going to get the others?" April asked, "They have my sister with them."

"Yeah, we'll get them. But you guys need to recover first. Sera's twice as skinny as before, you both need to rest, and Charlotte needs to have the baby."

"That's fair." Sera leaned against the truck. "I think it would be smart to build up some muscle first."

"Who all is left?" Ren asked them.

"Brad, Kevin…and Michael." Sera told her.

Ren nodded, "You'd think he'd have gone after his brother."

"He sent Leon to go and stay with Sean so he wouldn't be as damaging to us as he had been being." April said.

"Yeah, Michael was smart enough to realize that he had a limited supply of us, and he had to hold onto what he had." Sera's voice shook with anger. She looked at Ren, "When it's time for him, I want you to make him pay with every fiber of his being, for everything he did to you and Becca."

"We will." Ren looked at her.

When they pulled into Alexandria the two girls looked around in amazement at the community. Daryl came around and opened the bed of the truck and Ren helped the other two out and then came down, trying to avoid looking at him as he took her hands to help her down. He hated that she couldn't look at him, he didn't know what it was from, but he understood. She could have thought that he told them where her and Charlotte were, I mean she had moved the other girl to Alexandria and everything.

"Sera!" A voice yelled from the steps of a house and they all turned to see Negan helping Charlotte down the stairs.

A wide smile came across Seras face as she ran to the girl and wrapped her arms around her, a hand falling on her stomach, "Mi hermosa. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Ren's right that everyone here is so nice." Charlotte looked up at Sera, "They've taken such good care of me and the baby."

"I'm glad you're okay." April came up giving Charlotte a hug. She looked at Ren, "Ren, we'll never be able to repay you."

"You don't need to. Seeing all of us out is enough." Ren smiled at them, "And it'll be with the others too."

Negan walked over to Ren and gave her a hug, "Damn kid, look at you being a real savior."

"Shut up." She smiled hugging him back.

"That's her uncle." Charlotte told the Sera, "The bad ass one."

"Well shit. He fits the bill." Sera smiled at him.

"This is Sera and April." She pointed at them respectively.

"Nice to meet you ladies." Negan nodded his head to them.

"So we gunna get to meet your brother too?" Sera asked.

"He…Hammond didn't make it." Ren told them.

"Shit…I'm sorry." Sera said. "I know that was the whole reason you left home."

"Yeah, but he kept me going, and he always will." Ren told them, "Come on, you guys need to see Saddiq."

"Who?" April asked.

"He's the doctor here." Charlotte told them, "He's so sweet, nothing like the doctors we're used to."

"That's good, I'd hate to hit him with how nice this place looks." Sera said as Ren led them to the medical house.

Once they were inside, they told Saddiq a general idea of what to look at them for and Ren turned down letting him look at her lip, the others were more important. Daryl saw though as she quietly slipped a bandage and tape from a table top and made her way to the bathroom.

* * *

 **A/N: Let me know what you guys think :) Sorry I'm still not back at 100% yet but they'll be something you guys will like coming up soon, I promise!**


	25. Chapter 25

Daryl left her alone with the others, knowing they all probably had a lot to talk about. They had set the girls up in the home Negan stayed in, Ren trusted him not to do anything to them while they all recovered from their captivity, she knew he'd kick anyones ass who tried too. He was standing on the back porch smoking a cigarette when he saw Ren walking out of the house and towards the fence.

He watched as she stood there for a little bit, hands on her knees taking in deep breaths. Slowly he approached her, "You alright?"

She stood up, startled by him and nodded through a sniffle, "Yeah, yeah I'm okay."

"Ren…" His voice was soft, and she covered her mouth.

"I left them." She said, "I left them to find their own way out and I just drove off. I blew up the place and just left." She started crying and he wanted to go to her, to hold her, but with how she'd been he didn't know what that would do to her, "They've gone through so much, they said the road wasn't as bad as the compound, but it was two years. Two years Daryl. They went through so much all while I was in a car, on my own, living in a dorm growing fucking fruits and vegetables." Her eyes found his, "I thought I'd killed them, I'd hoped that I hadn't, but I thought I had, then to find out that they were being dragged across the country and enduring those dickbags at the same time?"

"It ain't your fault." Daryl told her, "You can ask anyone of them in there and they'll say it too. When you left that place you were goin through a lot and they understand. Ren, you didn no nothin wrong."

"Shit. I'm sorry." She said covering her face, "I'm a fucking mess. I'm a fucking mess you don't deserve to have to put up with."

"Ren-"

"Don't." She cried, "Just don't. It doesn't matter how much I clean or scrub myself I'm still filthy. I'm damaged goods. Through and through."

"The fuck? No, you're not." He stepped closer to her.

"Yes I am." She looked at him, "I'm so scared."

He knew it, "I…I shouldn'a did what I did at the hospital."

"No, it's not you." She looked at him, her eyes glassy from tears, "It's me. I like you Daryl. I like you a lot and I like it when you kissed me but then…then I think about the things that normal people do and I don't know how I'll react to that and I don't want to make you feel bad like you do right now." Her body shrunk in on itself in guilt, "And then I just let him do those things to me right in front of you."

"No." He moved over to her, his voice cracking, "Don do this. You didn ask for it, you didn want it. I made it bad for you. He wanted to get a reaction from me, and he got it. I'm sorry."

"Please, don't blame yourself." She shook her head, "You…you're amazing, you always have been."

"Tell me what to do then, how do I make it better?" He asked her.

"I don't know…because I'm so damn scared of myself." She told him.

He wiped away the tears from her cheeks and had her look at him, "Ren, if I ever do anythin that you don't want, or you want me to stop. Just tell me, I'll understand, you don have to be scared. Cause I never want to hurt or scare you. We don even have to do anythin', just being next to you is enough."

"God even that scares me." She let out a slight laugh and smile. "But…I want to try."

"C'mere." He put his arms around her, and she went into him, hugging him back. He ran his hand down her hair, calming her down more and he thought of what she had said at the hospital. Moving her hair out of the way he leaned down slowly and put his lips over the nape of her neck. She stiffened slightly at first but then she realized he was replacing what Timothy had done and she smiled against his shoulder. He removed his lips and she felt his breath against her skin, making her stomach go tight as he asked, "This alright?"

"Yeah." She replied and felt his lips again and they moved around her neck, slowly and gently. Her grip on him increased as he went, but it wasn't bad, she enjoyed it more than she thought she would. Her breath shook as he made his way up her neck, stopping at her ear and he just held her now. She whispered, "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For being you." She answered, "For not expecting a lot from me…for being as okay with it as someone can be."

"It's never changed the way I look at you." He told her, "Never will."

She smiled against his neck, "I'm glad I didn't kill you that day."

"Me too." He kissed her forehead, "How's your hip?"

She looked embarrassed, "Worse… I went to the bathroom to clean it and instead I ended up scrubbing it."

"Can…can I take a look?" He asked, not wanting to go too far.

"Y-yeah." She said and he let go of the embrace, kneeling down as she pulled her shirt slightly up. She swallowed hard as she felt his fingers at the top of the bandage and closed her eyes as he pulled it down to see, having to lower her waistband slightly to look at all of the wound. Ren was embarrassed and ashamed of him seeing the mark on her.

He looked at the bite mark that was bloody but the skin around it was red and agitated. He ran his fingers over it gently and it felt slightly raised compared to the rest of her skin. She gasped quietly feeling his mouth on the skin and looked down to see him kissing the skin around the wound. Her stomach tightened as he looked up at her and her mind flashed to him being down there just in another spot and her face went red as her heart stopped beating, not sure why she would think of that or if she could even do that. It was something that none of the pricks had ever done, so she wouldn't have any negative reactions to it, right?

"You okay?" He asked.

She nodded, her voice soft, "Just surprised."

"We'll keep an eye on it. No more scrubbin' though." He put the bandage back up and stood back up. Daryl wasn't sure what to do now, they were both just standing there.

"Do you think…" She started, not sure how this would work or if it even could, "I know it won't be…but…do you think we could try to be normal and then stop when it becomes too much?"

He nodded, "If that's what you want."

"I think so." She looked up at him, "Because I…I don't know what is too much or will actually scare me."

"Alright, just lemme know okay." He looked down at her.

Ren laughed slightly, "I'm sure you'll know."

He nodded with a smile, cupping her cheek and leaned in, doing something he'd wanted to do for a while, and finally doing it properly. She couldn't stop the smile as he kissed her, she knew this she would be alright with, they'd already done it before, but this time it was better, it wasn't urgent with the threat of death looming. He kissed her slow and gentle, taking his time, moving a hand to be on her waist and she slid a hand up his shoulder, her fingers grazing the back of his neck. Sliding his arm around her he whispered, "You doin aright?"

"Yeah." She answered, being pulled closer to him. He didn't plan on doing anything more than this, every time his hand moved, he felt her flinch or stiffen slightly for a moment, but she never stopped kissing him back. He kissed her in a way she'd never been kissed before, it wasn't demanding, or needy, it felt the same way the rest of their relationship did, natural and comfortable, and she wondered how that could be that after everything, after the end of the world as she knew it, it was possible for her to have found something like this.

"What the fucking fuck is this shit?" Negan bounded down the back steps.

Their kiss broke but Daryl kept her close just in case, not sure what the hell Negan might try. Ren looked at her Uncle, "It was what it looked like."

"What the fuck Daryl? Do you not remember what I told you at the very beginning of this?" Negan looked at him, "She's a goddamn child compared to you."

"I am not." Her voice was stern. "I haven't been a child for a while."

"Really? Cause I'm pretty sure you're closer to being a child's age than you are being his age."

"What the hell does that have to do with anything?" Ren tried not to get to loud since it was night time, "So this is going to be your problem this time? Our ages? With Chris it was him being to skinny. Brandon wasn't on a good career path. And now age? That's the cross you're going to die on this time?"

"I'm not dying on it." Negan walked up to them and Daryl held her close, "I'm climbing to the top of it and screaming 'There is no way in hell I'm allowing this.'"

"It's not your choice to allow." She looked at him, "It's my decision to make and it's his decision to make. No one else should be involved."

"Serenity Mae. You will go inside that house this moment and we will have a conversation about this right now." Negan stared her down. Daryl had seen the man give this look to many people who just cowered at it, but not Ren. She stepped out of Daryls arms and right up to him.

"You can't make me do shit because I'm a grown ass woman who does what _and who_ ever she wants." She then turned to Daryl and told him, "I'm going to go take a shower."

"Alright." Daryl said watching her go. The two men were silent until she was inside and once she was Daryl looked at him, "Man, are you stupid or somethin?"

"Says the man who had his hands all over my niece." Negan squared up to him.

"Nah, I ain't doin that shit with you." Daryl waved him off, "You look at those women in there and you can tell they've been through some shit, but you refuse to see that Ren went through it too because then you'd realize just how bad you fucked up not goin to get her. But she went through it, and now she's makin decisions you don like, but you don get a say. Only she does. Because she knows what she needs and wants, no one else does. We don get to make decisions for her, that's why she's still stayin at the dorm half the time, because if I had a say, she'd be here where we could all keep an eye on her. Dipshit."

Negan watched as he walked off back to the other house where he stayed. Daryl was right, he didn't want to admit to himself what had happened to Ren because he'd given up on her. And realizing it now and coming to terms with it, made him sick.

* * *

Ren was standing with the girls, "I'll be back in a few days, I'm just going to be making sure that everything's good there, the soil needs to be prepped for a new harvest, stuff like that."

"Someone's going with you right?" Charlotte said.

"Yeah, when they realize the others are gone, they'll probably start looking even harder for you." April told her.

"Daryl refused to let me go alone." Ren let out a laugh, "I may have blown up a water heater and gave myself a concussion."

"Hermana you have a knack for blowing things up." Sera laughed at her.

"Whether I want to or not." Ren laughed, "There's a long-range walkie I'll make Daryl fork over before we leave this way if you guys need something you can call."

"We'll be fine, you just take care of yourself, yeah?" Sera put a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah." Ren smiled back. She went to go and find her uncle but couldn't. She went up to Rick, "Hey have you seen my uncle?"

"Negan left this morning." Rick told her, "I tried to stop him, but he said he had to go find something."

"Oh, alright." Ren said wondering what the hell he could be looking for, "When he comes back just let him know Daryl and I will be back in a couple of days."

"Will do, we'll take good care of your friends while they're here. And of course, they're welcome to stay permanently if they want." Rick smiled at her.

"I'll let them know."

* * *

Daryl was putting a bag in Rens car when he heard someone behind him, "Hey."

"Hey." He turned around seeing Sera.

"You really like her?" Sera asked.

"What?" Daryl looked at her.

"I saw you two out back last night. You really like her?" She repeated.

"Yeah." He told her.

"Then take care of her." Sera said, "She might have fooled the others by telling them it was dealing with the plants and all that but I'm not stupid."

"What'd'ya mean?" he asked.

"She might have known you all were coming, she might have known that it would only be an hour or so…but she had been out for two years." Sera explained, "I was out only for two days and I knew the panic of having been captured again, and I gave myself up as a distraction. She must have had the panic set in at some point, even if she swallowed it down, thinking that it was permanent. She needs a recovery. A place she's familiar. The three of us, we have each other, and she has us too, but she went so long just on her own that she needs that time again to let things go back to normal, so just take care of her, yeah?"

"I will." He assured her.

"Good." Sera smiled at him, "She endured more than most. Ren was there the longest out of all of us. I know we were on the road but that was a perk. Half the time spent was surviving, in the compound it was just pure hell. And she endured all of it. I'm glad she found you, she deserves to be happy…after all she's lost."

"You all do." Daryl told her.

"And that's why I like you." She smirked, "You say that stuff because it's true, and you know it's true. But you say it for her too, knowing that it's what she wants too. I saw it yesterday when you let her be with us instead of checking on her, making sure she was alright, because you knew that she needed to be with us. You're a good man, and coming from me, that's a lot."

"Thanks." He felt the corners of his lips being pulled up from talking to this girl.

"What are you two talking about?" Ren came up to the car with a teasing raised eyebrow.

"Oh, just that if something happens to you while you two are away, I'll kill him." Sera patted Daryl on the shoulder.

"You'd have to get behind my Uncle." Ren laughed at her.

"Hell no, no man's gonna beat me to that punch." Sera told her, "You two have fun with your soil and stuff. Relax a little too."

"We'll try." Ren said as they got into the car. She put her hand out the window and waved good-bye to the girls as the gates opened to let them out.

* * *

 **A/N: Alright guys, it finally happened. I guess I wasn't joking when I said slow burn in the description, huh? Normally I go a lot faster with my ships. But what do you guys think? I know it's not exactly Daryl as he was in this time frame of the show, but things were a smidge bit different so I felt like I could keep him a little Season 3/4 but still the Daryl he is now, sort of. So let me know what you think! More to come soon :)**


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N: - I completely agree. I think that having someone who had been through being abused, Daryl would relate to them (Much like he did Carol in the beginning which is why they're so close) and he would be not only more gentle with that person, but want to help them, which in turn would make him open up more. Really glad for your comment so I didn't feel like I was getting him all wrong in this part of the story XD**

* * *

Daryl gave her space that she needed while they were at the dorm, he checked in on her every now and then as she worked with the plants knowing how consumed she could get when she was working. He kept himself busy checking the windows he'd boarded up, making sure everything was good with her car, things to keep him out of her way. He knew when she wanted him around, she'd find him, other than that he was just there to make sure she was safe and anything else she wanted.

On the second night they were there they ate dinner, then she went to take a shower. When she was done, he went in since he'd helped her with a lot of the planting that day. Coming out of the shower he was a little shocked to see that the living area had been rearranged. The couch had been pushed back and a few of the small dorm mattresses had been pulled from spare rooms to make a lounge bed area on the floor with pillows and blankets. He saw her sitting on the couch eating a small bowl of pickles in a button-down sleep shirt with sweat pants on. Stopping and looking at the new set up he wasn't sure what to ask about.

She looked up at him, "I rearranged…"

"Noticed." He responded.

"The past couple of times we've been here we've fallen asleep on the couch together and I figured this would be more comfortable…" She sheepishly told him as she focused on her last few pickles.

"Uh huh." He continued heading over to sit down on the makeshift bed, his back leaning on the couch.

"And I thought that maybe it might help me…" She kept going.

"With?" He looked up at her.

"Stop." She laughed quietly setting the bowl down, "You're embarrassing me."

"Why? I'm just askin' questions." He shrugged at her, controlling his smirk.

"I've been sleeping better with you around the past few months and I thought that maybe us having a normal…actual place to sleep and not a couch would help with other things too…" She tried to explain, "Look, I don't know why I did it. I just thought about it and did it okay. We can still sleep on the couch or in our own rooms or whatever."

He took her hand and pulled her down to the ground with him, setting her on his lap, wrapping his arms around her, "You wanna sleep here, we'll sleep here."

"Yeah?" She asked.

"Yeah." He gave her a small smile, "You change your mind, we'll do whatever you want then too."

Ren smiled, leaning into him, resting her head on his shoulder and giving him a quick kiss on his jaw. They stayed like this as the TV played and eventually his voice entered her ears, "Why me?"

"What?" She lifted her head and looked up at him.

"Why'd you wanna be with me?" He asked her.

"What do you mean?" She still didn't understand.

"You're smart and beautiful and have so many other options besides me." He told her.

"You mean other than someone who makes me feel safe? And protects me? And can provide for me? And doesn't look at me the way other people do? When we first met you didn't even care that I didn't speak after the first day, you let it go." She turned his face to have him look at her, "I don't care about other options. I only care about you. Because I know no matter where I'm at or what's going on, I'm safe if I'm with you. And I haven't felt safe in a long time…among other things."

He could see the pink on her cheeks as she told him this and he felt his chest go tight thinking about what she was referring too. Running his fingers through her hair he sealed his lips to hers. Cupping the back of her head he kissed her slow but deep for the first time. Her stomach fluttered as he leaned into her, his mouth opening hers more with every kiss, his hand on her waist, his thumb stroking the fabric, relaxing her as they remained locked onto each other. Feeling his tongue against her top lip she gripped at his shirt, stiffening slightly. He separated their lips slightly, "Sorry."

"It-it's okay." She told him, "I liked it. It's just I think I need to get used to me liking it."

"Lay down." He said, helping to lower her onto the mattresses. Her stomach was in knots as she got comfortable with one of his arms still around her as she laid on her back, him to her side, hovering over her slightly, but she didn't know what was causing the knots, fear or nerves. He ran his hand over the top of her head, thumb caressing her forehead, he'd never been with anyone like this, it had always been one-night stands or weekend flings, but nothing slow, nothing meaningful. And the fact that she allowed him to hold her at all meant everything. "Wanna stop?"

She moved his hair out of his face and leaned up, "No."

He met her half way, lips meeting again, and he repeated the process, slowly easing her into more to get back to where they had been. Ren might be scared, she wasn't sure, but she wasn't going to let it stop her, she'd used fear so many times as an excuse, to not go outside, to not talk to people, to not join a group, and Daryl had made her not afraid of all of those at this point, so she wasn't going to let it affect her now when it came to being with him, and if it was just nerves, they would go away just like fear would. When she was with him, she didn't have to be afraid. This time when she felt his tongue she didn't stiffen, but instead let him into her mouth, and he slowly explored it, finding her own tongue. She felt like a damn teenager again, learning and experiencing everything for the first time even though she wasn't.

Clinging to him, she caught up, matching his movements and he held her tighter, kissing her more passionately, a way he'd never kissed anyone before. He couldn't have imagined ever feeling like this for anyone else, he cared for every inch of her, every freckle and hair, and he wanted to know every single one.

His hair tickled her face as he began to kiss down her jaw to her neck. She tried to just shut her mind off and enjoy the feelings he was giving her because she trusted him and his mouth on her neck felt really good. He felt her breath shutter when he kissed a specific part of her neck, right next to where he could feel her pulse and he sucked on it slightly. Her hands gripped him tight and she took in a sharp breath, "Don't."

He stopped and looked up at her, seeing her eyes shut tightly. As he moved away from her a little bit, he felt her relax slightly and her grip loosened as she said, "Sorry you don't have to stop if you don't want too…just…please don't leave any marks."

"Alright." He kissed her cheek, "Do you want me to stop?"

"Yes and no." She let out a slight, nervous laugh.

"When you first saved me…" He started, "When you were patchin me up, you see my back?"

"No, I just focused on the stab wound." She looked at him confused as to why he was asking.

He took her hand and put it at the bottom of his shirt, sliding it under and around to his back. As she moved her hand around, she felt raised skin in the form of lines on his back. Scars. Once she realized this, she looked at him even more confused. He cupped her face, "I'll never leave a mark on you."

"I trust you Daryl." She told him, her throat tight, "I trust you more than any other person alive."

"I don wanna push you." He cupped her face.

"I know, but I want you too." She looked up at him, "If you don't want to stop, then you don't have to. Because I want you to replace every touch of theirs with one of yours."

He didn't know what to say, he had never been the guy that girls had wanted something like that from. He'd always been the one to piss off their parents or to get back at a boyfriend. To be so much to someone like her was shocking and he could tell she meant every word of it with the way she was looking at him. He cupped her face, kissing her deep for a moment before saying, "I will, slowly, over time."

"Alright." She agreed, not wanting to torture him by getting him riled up just for her to stop him because she has a panic attack.

"Tell me to stop and I will." He told her, his hand going to the top button of her top and undoing it. Ren wasn't sure how this was going slow, but she trusted him as he undid the second button right between her breasts. He kissed the skin he had just revealed in the middle of her chest, open mouthed and deep as he moved to be more on top of her. She wanted him to replace every touch and the one place that he knew he had to start at was here, even if it was for selfish reasons because of how those assholes had talked about the area. He could feel her holding him, but she wasn't giving him any signals to stop as he explored her skin with his mouth.

She bit her bottom lip as he pulled the fabric to the side, revealing a little bit of her breast to his mouth but he never went in to far, staying only at the beginning of the mounds. He made sure that what he did to one side, he did to the other, before he began kissing back up her chest to her neck. Feeling him pull slightly at her collar to reveal more of her shoulder, she ran her fingers through his hair as his mouth explored her newly exposed skin. She enjoyed how thorough he was and how attentive he was to every inch of skin and she though she might not want it to end despite knowing that it would backfire at some point, she knew it had to.

Daryl made his way back up her neck, over her jaw, and to her lips, putting more weight on her, being completely on top of her now as their tongues danced rhythmically around each other. The kiss grew heated the longer it lasted, and she gripped at his hair and back just as tightly as he was holding her. He knew he should stop, but her kiss was like a drug, and he needed it more every second. But her letting out a whimper snapped him from his addiction, and he moved away from her, "Shit, I'm sorry."

"It wasn't that." She said then looked to her hip, where his hand was, "Stupid thing."

He realized he must have gipped at her wound and sat back, "Can I?"

"Yeah." She motioned as he sat back and lifted her shirt slightly to see where the bandage was.

When he pulled it back, it didn't look good, it was still really red and angry, "Kit still in the same place?"

She nodded as he got up from the bed and went to the kitchen area to find the first aid kit. Chewing on the inside of her lip, she didn't say anything as he came back and sat down, applying medicine and a new bandage to the bite mark. As he was taping it back to her skin she asked, "How's your leg?"

"Fine." He told her.

"Really?" She looked at him, not believing him.

"Yeah, a doctor looked at mine." He moved the kit off the bed and laid down next to her. She rolled on her side to face him and he saw that look in her eye again, the one where she was ashamed. He ran his fingers down her cheek, "I'm glad she broke his teeth."

"Me too." She admitted. "I…I didn't want him to show you…I didn't want you to see…it was so feint that I thought you might not be able to tell what it was if you ever saw it."

"It don matter." He told her, running his fingers through her hair, "He's dead. The others are too, they just don know it yet."

She smiled and scooted closer to him, putting her head against his chest, "You're damn right."

He wrapped his arms around her, placing a kiss to the top of her head and felt her nuzzle into him, letting out a quiet yawn before she fell asleep.

* * *

 **2 A/N: I have busy work week this week (plus I run my own business on the side because I'm insane) so I wanted to give you guys a heads up that I'm going to try and post a chapter a day, but I don't want to promise it. I know you guys are used to me posting pretty quick on this story so I wanted to give you a heads up in case I slip a day or two! Thanks so much guys! Let me know what you think :)**


	27. Chapter 27

They'd gotten a call from Sera over the walkie saying that they needed some clothes because the ones they had were pretty much done for with how long they'd been wearing them, so Ren and Daryl headed to a store that he'd scouted a few weeks prior to get them some. He mostly grabbed shirts he thought might fit the other girls and let Ren get the pants and underwear for them since she knew more about that. As they moved through the store, they took out the few munchers that were around and gathered more things.

He came from a section of the store to see Ren stopped at a clothing rack, looking at something. When he walked over, he saw she had the bottom of a white sundress. It had spaghetti straps and lace around the neck line and matching lace at the bottom that would have fallen to be at the mid-thigh. It was a simple dress, but he had no clue why she was looking at it with a smile on her face.

"Sorry." She said realizing he was there.

"You want it?" He asked.

"For what?" Ren raised an eyebrow at him with a smirk. When she looked back at the dress with a sigh she said, "There's no use for clothes like this anymore."

"Then why you lookin at it like that?" He looked down at her.

"Becca tried to get me to buy a dress just like this before it all happened." She let go of the fabric, "I told her I had absolutely no reason to wear something like this, but she tried everything to get me to get it, said white looked good on me, I could wear it on a date or to a company outing, anything to get me to buy it but I wouldn't."

He wasn't really a sentimental person, but he knew she was. Her room at the dorm was filled with memories and little trinkets she'd had from before that had been in her car, anything to remind her of back then. Daryl understood why she did that and he saw the smile on her face as she looked at it one last time before moving on to another section, saying "We need to get them shoes too."

"Yeah." He looked at the dress as he moved to follow her, "You know what size?"

"Yeah, does anyone else in Alexandria need stuff while we're here?" She looked back at him, grabbing shoes off of a rack, "Might as well get it now."

"Don know, but if we can fit spare stuff, we should take it." He told her, "We'll find some use for it."

"Okay." She grabbed a few more pairs of shoes.

They continued through the store and began putting things into her car and once it was full, they headed back to Alexandria. When they got there, they found Sera out front of the house they were staying in working on one of the cars. Ren shook her head, "Weren't you supposed to be relaxing?"

"I spent the last few months in a box, I needed to get outside." Sera wiped dirt and oil off of her hands, "Do some work."

"Definitely see how y'all are friends." Daryl looked between the two of them.

"We used to spend hours talking about this kind of stuff." Ren told him.

"Drove the others insane." Sera laughed, "But if we hadn't of talked about it, they never would have let me out of my cage to work on their cars. Then you would have never known how to get to the cars."

"Then I would have never blown them all to hell." Ren smiled proudly.

"No, you still would have done that hermana, your car just would have gone up too." Sera reminded her, "And that would have destroyed you. How's she running? You need me to take a look at her."

"She's good. Daryl works on her." Ren said.

"Bitch." Sera got fake offended, her accent getting stronger, "You let him touch your car? You promised me only I could touch her. I know you think he's cute but come on, you gotta have rules hermana, gotta stick to the code." Sera turned to Daryl, who had no idea how to react during all of this, "I don't care how good your hands are, what's under the hood is mine, yeah?"

Ren laughed at her, "I'm going to take the clothes inside, that where the other two are?"

"Yeah." Sera told her, "Oh and don't let Charlotte tell you that I've been mean to her, she's a liar."

"Hey, don't put me in the middle of that lovers quarrel." Ren put her hands up as she went inside.

Sera looked back at Daryl, "I was serious, her body is one thing, but that car is mine."

He had no clue what to say and she lowered the hood on the car she had been working on, "Lemme guess, you're wondering how we can joke and talk like that considering." He shrugged, because that was what had been on his mind since he'd first seen them all laughing and joking literally seconds after being freed, "It's simple. We had each other. That whole time we were in there, we talked, got to know each other. The situation we were in made for more honest friendships, since we didn't have anything to lose. We would laugh and talk, shit about boyfriends, girlfriends, family, stories from when we were kids. I could tell you what that girls' favorite snack is, what Charlottes cousins called her when they picked on her at the age of five. It didn't matter that some of us would be tortured at some point in the day, because when it was over, we had each other to lighten the mood. I think most people would call it a…ah, what's the phrase…" She snapped trying to remember, "Coping mechanism! And that bleeds out past it, the humor was always dark, now it can be both, because our lives are no longer dark, and we can laugh about everything life, no matter how it used to hurt, because we're alive."

Daryl nodded understanding, sometimes he and Rick had the same type of relationship about their past. He pointed to the car, "You know cars?"

"Cars, bikes, if it has an engine, I know it." She told him, "It's the one skill my dad had that was legal in America when we got here, and it was the only way for us to make money."

"We got some spare parts and Aarons got a frame if you wanna build a bike." He told her, "It ain't much, but it'll give you somethin to do."

"Thanks, I appreciate it." She smiled at him, "The others are happy to have air conditioning and working showers, and I understand that, and that works for them, but other people need to have a distraction."

"She's like that too." He told her. "Always gotta be workin on somethin when shit gets bad."

"Yeah, I'd hear her in her cell finding anything to tinker with, even if it was the screws that held her bed together." Sera laughed, then looked to the door leading into the house before turning back to him, "How is she? Really?"

He leaned on the car, he wasn't sure how much he should say, how much was his place to say, "Better. Than when I first found her."

"I hear she found you." Sera smirked at him, but went back to the subject, "That's good though. After we lost Becca…Shit, after we lost her, I didn't think that Ren would ever talk again, she barely said a word. But then something happened, and she snapped."

"What happened?" He couldn't stop the words.

"Don't know exactly." Sera admitted, "Just know she got taken for a removal then she showed up in front of my cell, blood all over her, a bone saw in her hand and the keys to get us out of there. Then she blew the place up." She looked back towards the house, "The look in her eye that day was like nothing I'd ever seen before. Not even in my fathers' eyes when we were escaping Venezuela. It was…crazed but calculated, like a wild animal watching a predator unknowingly closing in on her den where her cubs were sleeping. Ready to strike at any moment should it get to close. After how she had looked for the month before…it was beautiful to see that in her eyes when there had been nothing for so long." Sera looked at Daryl, "I was afraid that once she made it out, was safe, that the nothing would creep back in. And maybe it had…before you, but seeing her back like this, laughing and smiling so consistently, it's nice. She had always told Becca that it wasn't her fault they got captured, but she wouldn't listen to us that it wasn't her fault they'd killed Becca. I'm glad…I'm glad she finally found someone she would listen too."

Daryl nodded and Sera smirked, "But back to being serious, touch her car again and I'll kill you."

"Gunna have to take that up with her." He told the woman with a smile.

"Take what up with who?" Ren asked coming back out with Charlotte and April who now were both in the clothes they had been brought.

"Him touching your car." Sera looked back at her.

"Oh my god, Sera, let it go. Not every car belongs to you now that society doesn't exist anymore." Charlotte groaned.

"Then what's the point of there not being a set of laws anymore?" Sera put her arms out. Charlotte rolled her eyes at her girlfriend and Sera pointed at her, "This belongs to me." She pointed at the car she had been working on, "Belongs to me now." Then she reached into Rens pant pocket and pulled out the keys, "Belongs to me now."

"Belongs to me my ass." Ren reached for her keys back, but the much taller women held them up higher.

"It might be a great ass but that means nothing in regards to the ownership of who get's to tune your engine." Sera told her.

"You're damn straight it's a great ass, now give me back my keys before I kick your half-starved ass." Ren continued to reach.

"You guys are a lot weirder than I expected." April looked at the three of them and Ren and Sera stopped moving and looked at her, frozen in the positions they were in.

"Are we really?" Sera squinted her eyes. "Because I might not have had any hermanas growing up, but I'm pretty sure this his how my neighbors acted."

While Sera was distracted Ren put a hand on her shoulder, jumping up to grab the keys and quickly moved away before Sera could grab them back, "Nope, you have to prove to me that you're worthy of my babies time if you can't share."

"That's how we're going to play?" Sera smirked, "Alright, I know how to treat a lady."

"Do I want to know what I just walked out on?" Negan said standing on the steps, trying to ignore Ren standing next to Daryl and the fact she had just said something about a baby.

"Sera's just trying to assert her dominance over everything." Charlotte told him, "Nothing to worry about, it's normal."

"I'm starting to tell." Negan gave them a wide smile, he liked those girls, they were resilient, and didn't take any shit. He looked to his niece, "Ren, can I borrow you for a minute."

She didn't want to argue with him about Daryl at the moment when she'd just been enjoying her time, "Depends for what."

"I got something for you." He told her, "It'll only take a minute then you can come back out and play."

"Okay." She put her keys back in her pocket, hoping that he wasn't lying to her just to get her alone to try and lecture her. Following him inside and up the stairs to his room she watched as he pulled a folded over piece of thick fabric. He handed it to her, and she asked, "What is it?"

"Open it." He said and she did slowly and when she saw what was inside a smile came across her face as she saw her brothers set of Kamas. "I almost got rid of them after he died, but something wouldn't let me…They were still at the sanctuary when you got here, but I had to get them for you. I know he'd have wanted you to have them, use them to protect yourself."

"He loved these things even though he didn't use them anymore." Her fingers ghosted over the handle of one, up to the intricately cut blade. Hammond had gotten them specially made for him, the blade to look like the beak of an eagle, not to use in competition, but to be real, he'd had them hung on his wall since he'd started MMA instead of martial arts.

"I had them sharpened so they were ready for use. I know he didn't train you with them, but I know he trained you with knives, so practice with them before you try to take anyone down with them." He told her.

"I know, I'm not eight anymore." She looked up at him with a smirk. Taking the handle of one she held it in her hand. It was different than she was used too, actually holding a weapon, but she had done it before, she could do it again. Plus, these were versatile, and she could get a little distance with them, "I do have to get used to them though."

"That's what I meant." He told her.

She rolled her eyes, "Sure it is."

"Come on, I'm not that much of a dick." He laughed.

"Have you met yourself?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Unfortunately, I have some days." He looked down at her, an amused look on his face. Putting his hand on her shoulder he squeezed it, "When you go after these douchbags and save those other girls, I wanna be there, even if it's just to watch you kick their ass."

"I'll need you there anyways." She told him, "The others like you, I'll need someone to help keep the rest of them safe while getting them out."

"You give me the orders and I'll follow them." He grinned at her.

She wrapped her arms around him, her hands still gripping at her brothers' weapons, "Thanks Uncle Negan. For everything."

"Anytime kid." He hugged her tight, finally feeling like he had his niece back completely despite how much she had grown up during the end of the world. "Any goddamn time."

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 **A/N: She's got a new set of weapons! Be sure to let me know what you guys think :)**


	28. Chapter 28

Negan had made them a fire and the four women were sitting, talking, and laughing as the sky grew darker. Ren enjoyed having them back, and even though she had just met April during the rescue, it was like they'd known each other the whole time too. Sera looked over and saw Daryl walking out onto the porch with a cigarette and called out, "Hey, you bring enough for the class?"

He started to walk over to them, having wanted to stay away because of Charlotte being pregnant, and he pulled out the pack. He liked Sera, he could tell she didn't give two fucks about what people thought of her and she protected her people. Handing the pack and lighter over to her he watched as she pulled out two cigarettes and lit them both handing one to Ren. She took it with a raised eyebrow, "Thanks?"

"Pretty girls don't light their own cigarettes." Sera told her, "Plus I remember how much you and Becca used to fight about the fact that you would smoke when you went out to bars, since she can't yell at you, figured you could use one."

"Just because she isn't here, doesn't mean I can't hear her giving me a hard time about it." Ren took a hit.

"Ren." Charlotte was quiet.

"What's up?"

"I was wondering…" Her hand ran over her belly, "Do you think it would be weird for me to name the baby Becca?"

Ren started laughing, "Oh my god, she'd hate it."

"So, you should do it." Sera smirked. This made Charlotte start to chuckle to herself and the baby name had been decided.

Daryl left them to go back to the porch but watched as they laughed with each other. He'd never seen Ren go this long with a smile on her face and he wasn't going to keep that from her.

"So how many others are there?" Ren asked.

"Four." April answered, "Last we were with them."

"Brad was a greedy bastard." Ren sighed, "We just need to keep getting you guys back to one hundred percent and then we'll get them and kill those asshats."

"Damn straight." Sera smiled at her. She watched as Ren stretched and stifled a yawn, "You ready to go to bed hermana?"

"I think so." Ren relaxed after her stretch.

"Why don't you sleep in the same house as us and your uncle?" Charlotte blurted out.

"You've never heard yourself snore." Ren smirked at her standing up.

"She's gotten better since the baby." Sera told Ren.

" _That's_ better?!" April looked at the couple.

Ren laughed as she walked to the house she slept in, "Night guys."

"Night." The others chimed.

Standing in the bathroom, brushing her teeth she saw in the mirror as Daryl walked in and smiled as he wrapped his arms around her from behind. She felt him nuzzle the back of her neck, leaving a kiss on the skin and she spit out the water in her mouth, "You seem cuddly tonight."

"Missed you." He muttered against her skin, she'd spent the whole day with the girls, teaching April how to use a knife properly, helping Sera fix things, he had barely seen her the whole day. In fact, the only time he had seen much of her since they got to Alexandria was at night. "You gunna sneak into my bed in the middle of the night again or just go with me now?"

Her face went red when he said this. It was true that the past few nights she had gotten up in the middle of the night to crawl into his bed and sleep in his arms, mostly because she slept better with him there, she woke up better with him too. "I-I mean I can…if you want."

His fingers skimmed her jaw and he moved her face to look at him as he kissed her, "Nah, it's what you want."

"No." She turned in his arms, "What you want matters too."

He knew what he wanted, but he was willing to wait for that. Nodding, he slid his hand into hers and started leading her to his room. She swallowed hard, always nervous before he started, but she knew she was safe with him, even when she was in a room all alone with him, as he wrapped his arms around her, she knew. Ren could feel his fingers on her waist and the grip he had on her was grounding. Feeling his breath shutter she could tell he was holding himself back and she didn't want him too, but she knew he would stop, she knew he wouldn't go to far to fast. Her chest was tight, "Daryl…I'll-I'll tell you when to stop, but until then-"

Daryl's lips were on hers, his hand cradling her head as he kissed her deep and quick. The past few nights their kisses and touches had been done while half asleep, but not tonight. Tonight he was going to be thorough. Tonight he would take care of her.

Their tongues met and she had grown comfortable kissing him back at the same level as he kissed her, her fingers gripping at the back of his neck, lacing through his hair. He could feel that she wasn't wearing a bra and as his lips left hers, travelling down her neck, his hand slid up her stomach slowly, waiting for any kind of signal that she wanted him to stop, but he didn't get one as his hand reached one of her breasts. He felt her breath shutter against his ear as he gently massaged the mound, she was tense, but he knew by now the difference between her body when she wanted him to stop and when it was something she enjoyed.

Her legs felt weak as his mouth travelled the exposed skin of her collarbone and neck while his thumb ran over the hardening bud on her chest. Taking a step forward she pushed him back to where he was sitting on the bed, climbing onto his lap, straddling him. His mouth found hers again and they kissed feverishly, Daryl never having wanted to take care of someone else so much in his life as he did when it came to her and her pleasure. His hand left her breast, instead wrapping around her, sliding under the back of her shirt, feeling her skin as he pulled her close, his other hand cupping her ass as their breathing got heavy.

In the pit of her stomach a feeling started to rise that she hadn't felt in years and when he nibbled at her bottom lip, she let out a soft moan, a moan Daryl wanted to hear again. The hand under her shirt slowly started to lift it up, revealing the skin of her stomach and before it too high he paused, wanting to make sure it was alright, "Can I?"

She nodded, a lump in her throat, and he lifted the fabric up and over her head. His eyes stayed on hers, feeling her breaths on his lips as his hands explored the skin of her back and shoulders. Moving a hand to her cheek he pulled her tight against him, lips capturing hers as she relaxed into him again. He moved slow, the last thing he wanted her to do was stop him before he got where he wanted to be, his lips trailing down her neck. Her chest was tight, knowing where his mouth was going, feeling the scruff on his face travelling down her breast.

Rens eyes shut as his tongue circled the bud, the anticipation building in her stomach. When his lips surrounded her nipple and gave a slight suck she gasped quietly, her fingers tangling in his hair. His arms were secure around her as her back arched to his mouth, his name leaving her in a whispered moan and as he sucked on her more her thighs gripped at his hips. He smiled knowing she was enjoying this as his mouth moved from one mound to the other.

Her hand went to his collar and he felt her starting to unbutton his shirt. Daryl knew her hands on his skin might be his undoing. He'd never really let anyone touch his back before, she'd been the first one, and her fingers were so delicate, her caresses so soft that he might go crazy from them. Feeling her fingers sliding down the skin it revealed with each button he had to catch his breath, his mouth leaving her, his face pressed into the crook of her neck as he felt her hand slide over his stomach, going around his waist.

"You trust me?" His voice was husky, breathing labored as her cheek rested on the top of his head.

"With everything I am." She answered.

Daryl lifted her up before laying her down on the bed and moving on top of her. He took off his shirt before wrapping his arms around her, mouth connected to hers, their skin pressed against each other. His hand explored the skin of her side, fingers gliding over the bandage of her now healing wound that he didn't give two shits about, just like she didn't care about the scars on his back her hands were running over.

Her heart stopped for a moment when his fingers slid down her hip and under the waist band of her sweat pants, but he didn't do anything but run his thumb over the skin, feeling her fingers gripping him tight. He waited, kissing her slowly, until he felt her relax again. Keeping his hands outside of her underwear he moved his hand in between her legs and this time he felt her whole body tense, "Want me to stop?"

She didn't want him too, _god_ she didn't want him too, but she was so scared, but she hadn't been lying when she said she trusted him. Her stomach was shaking, her heart was beating faster than it ever had, but she had enjoyed every second of what he'd been doing to her, and she didn't want this to be any different. She could feel the heat between her legs, and she knew he could too. Cupping his cheek, she kissed him, pushing his hair out of his face, "Not yet."

Kissing her neck, he slowly moved his hand under the fabric, a finger sliding between her folds and he felt her grip on him tighten slightly. His lips met hers and he moved them at the same speed as his hand, paying attention to every breath she made. She felt his finger find her clit and she moaned into his mouth as his calloused hands gently rubbed against it.

Her hand on his chest clung to his skin as he pleasured her. She broke their kiss with a gasp as he slid a finger inside of her, finding the bundle of nerves, and she pressed her head into his shoulder as he moved in and out of her. Daryl put his other arm around her, cradling her as he added another finger inside, his thumb on her clit now. Her quiet noises of enjoyment pushed him on, wanting her to reach her climax as her fingers dug into him.

Ren could feel herself getting close, but with that feeling was also one of panic, her chest caving in on itself making it harder for her to breath. She tried to push it away, to take deep breaths but she couldn't. Daryl felt her grip go tight and her hand shot out from his back, grabbing his wrist and he stopped immediately. He could feel her shaking in his arms and he held her as tight as she was holding him, his hand running down the back of her head.

"I'm sorry." She muttered.

"Don be." He told her, "There ain't nothin for you to be sorry for."

"I-I didn't want you to stop." She told him, "I just…I just-"

He shushed her, "It's okay. It don change nothin about how I feel."

Her body stopped shaking as much, but she still clung to him, "Daryl, I…" Her face went red, "I don't want to stop trying…" She'd never said something like this to someone and it made her feel more vulnerable than she ever had, "At some point…I want to be with you…if you're okay with it too."

He swallowed hard. He wanted that too, he'd had sex before, but he'd never _wanted_ to be with someone like he did her. But as much as he wanted it, he didn't want her to push herself, he wanted her to be comfortable not stressed or panicked. But he did want her in that way too. He nodded, "Yeah."

A smile came across her face and he felt her relax slightly in his arms. Leaning up she placed a light kiss on his lips, "Thank you…for being you. If it weren't for you, I'd still be scared and alone in my dorm and I never would have known that good people were still out there. People I could get attached to. People that I could love."

"Ren." His voice shook.

"It's true. Despite everything about me, despite every reason I've given you to give up on me, you haven't. Instead you carefully broke down every wall I'd put up but made sure everything about me was still sturdy. And because of that…I've fallen in love with you." She told him.

It wasn't his thing, to be honest like that, to be so open with someone, but with her he couldn't stop it, "Why'd you think I never gave up on you? Why I said I'd hunt for you if you went missing? Why I want to kill every asshole that put their hands on you?" He didn't know exactly when it had happened, but it had, "Cause I love you too."

* * *

 **A/N: I really appreciate all the reviews you guys have been leaving and following this story! It really means a lot to me! Let me know what you guys think of this one! :)**


	29. Chapter 29

She was eating breakfast with Negan, just the two of them and the silence was beginning to get annoying. Finally, she put down her fork and leaned back in the chair, "Alright, you've been holding it in for so long, go for it. Let me have it."

"Daryl?!" He looked at her, his eyes wide and confused, "Like I get that it's not exactly generous pinkin' here Ren, but _Daryl?_ "

"What's wrong with him?" She asked, trying to remain an adult about this.

"What's wrong wi- What's wrong with him? What's right with him?" He huffed, "He's Daryl! He can barely say a sentence in proper English."

"So?"

"He doesn't have the best hygiene."

"Do any of us anymore?"

"He's like twenty years older than you."

"Weren't you fifteen years older than the girl you cheated on Aunt Lucille with?" She looked at him, her arms crossed at this point. He opened his mouth to attempt a snarky come back but he couldn't. She had him caught. Leaning forward over the table she looked at him, "And that's something that I know Daryl would never do to me. Nor would he hurt me. And you know what else? When he touches me, I don't hate myself as much as when anyone else does, even you Uncle Negan, sorry to say that but it's true. And given everything that I've been trough since this world turned shit side up, I think that I'm allowed to not have to worry about what other people think or whether or not they approve. I think the only thing that matters is that I want to be with him, and he wants to be with me, don't you think that's all that should matter?"

He was shit. He kept forgetting that things weren't like what they were before. That she was different than she had been when she'd last visited him. That he couldn't treat her like she was the small girl who everyone saw as a fragile thing that needed to be protected, because while some of those things may still be true, by treating her that way it was disregarding everything she had gone through, all the strength she had acquired over her journey. He sighed, "No, you're right. That's all that matters. I just…I just feel like shit Ren. I want to be able to help you, to be able to do what you need me too, but he does it all better."

"Because I don't want you to do all of that." She told him, "You're my Uncle, firstly there are certain lines that come with that…but mostly you already feel like shit about Hammond and not going through with coming to get me…I can't make it worse by you having to deal with every breakdown I have or hearing all the shit that happened. That's not fair to either of us to have to put that on the other." She gave him a smile, "So let's not. Let's just be how we were before. Not all the way before, but like winter time."

"Does that mean you want me to make you more cheesy potatoes?" He raised an eyebrow with a smirk.

"Damn straight." She responded.

They finished their meal together before heading outside where Sera was working on her car and Daryl was watching her from the other porch. Charlotte and April were relaxing, actually enjoying their down time.

Sera called Ren over and she went. Sera looked at her, "So it took some convincing, but we got April to agree to waiting until after Charlotte had the baby so we're not as vulnerable."

"Yeah, you're only as strong as your weakest link." Ren looked over to Charlotte sitting on the lawn, "And with that stomach, she's not very strong."

"No, but with Aprils sister being in the other group, we can't wait to long. We don't have any information on what the pricks are up to or what they know." Sera said, "They might think we're all just eternos food or they could know we're all out."

"Yeah, you have any idea where they're at?" Ren asked, "I might be able to get close enough to see how they're doing."

"I know an area but not an exact location, similar to with us, we moved around inside a specific area." Sera told her.

"Cool, you keep eyes on those two and I'll figure out what I can with them." Ren said and Sera nodded in agreement.

"You find me a beater while you're out there and I'll fix it up for you, so you don't have to risk your baby while giving you something they won't recognize." Sera smiled.

Ren gave her a light shove, but they were distracted as Rick and Michonne walked over to them. Michonne smiled at them, "How are you all doing?"

"First time I've been full multiple days in a row." April admitted with a smile.

"We're glad to help anyway we can." Rick told them, but his smile was tight, "I know you all are planning on going after the last few left, rescue the others they have." Ren nodded at him, knowing that he was getting at something. Putting his hands on his hips Rick looked towards the ground then back up at her, "You plan on killing them?"

"Fuck yes." Sera almost yelled. "What else would we do with animals like that?"

Daryl came over to be able to hear at this point, he could see the women getting concerned. Rick tried to remain political, "That's not really how we handle things anymore."

"Then what do you want us to do?" Charlotte came over to stand by Ren and Sera, April following her over.

"Lock them up, we have a cell." Rick told them, looking to Ren, "Your uncle spent six months in there and he came out a member of our society on the other side."

Ren shook her head at him, and April asked, "You expect us to rehabilitate those… _things_ and then live with them? After what they've done to us?"

"Nah." Daryl said, reassuring them, _really_ not agreeing with Rick and Michonne on this one, "We don expect y'all to do anything like that."

"We have to have rules, and we have to follow those rules." Michonne told them, "And I know it's hard but that's how society rebuilds."

"Would you have wanted Ted Bundy to sleep in the room next to you after knowing what he did?" Ren finally spoke, looking at Michonne, "Or H.H. Holmes? What about Jack the Ripper? Would you trust any of them to sleep in the room next to Judith?" Michonne and Rick thought about it, not sure how to answer, so Ren kept going, "If you think that you can, you're wrong. Yeah, my Uncle is a piece of shit, who did things that shouldn't have been done, but what he did was nothing compared to what those monsters did. They cut pieces off of munchers and sewed them on to living people to see if the body part would come back to life or kill the person. They would…" Her throat went tight, "They would pick women to 'breed' with, then assign them a month of their pregnancy to remove the fetus and see if it had the sickness or if it would turn…plus a lot more."

"What they did wasn't human." Sera told them, "They don't deserve to live as a human, even if it's in a cage."

"You can't rehabilitate them…you can't fix people who let their own sisters be tested on and raped." Ren looked at them, "And kill them when they stop being able to do what is 'asked' of them."

"We'll leave…we'll go if that's what you want us to do for not wanting to let them live." Charlotte said, "We understand the fact that you want rules, but even before the world ended, we had a death sentence, and they're people that deserve that sentence."

"I'm with them." Daryl said, "I've heard those assholes, so's Maggie, you can ask her. There ain't no way I'm letting them near anyone here."

"I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I agree with Daryl." Negan added.

"We know where we stand." Ren told Rick and Michonne, "And we get that you don't know them, and that you're in charge of this place, but if you want them to be a part of the civilization that your creating…then I'm afraid of that civilization."

Michonne nodded, "Then we'll have a vote." Rick looked over at her, they had determined together that they would try to convince the women to go with the jail option. She continued, "We'll discuss it with the other communities, and everyone will be allowed to say their piece."

"We respect that." Ren said and Sera shot her a concerned look and she just put a calming hand up, "But know that doesn't change our plans, but it might change our working relationship. So, it won't be about whether they live or die, really it'll be about whether you prefer our friendship or not."

"Alright." Rick wasn't sure how he felt about that ultimatum…but they were still trying to build something.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry guys, had a hard time today, barely even managed to get internet to post this, but I promise good stuff soon!**


	30. Chapter 30

Daryl had never really thought much of waking up before, but lately, waking up with her curled up in his arms was the highest point in his day only rivaled by going to sleep with her there too. Her back was against his chest and he had an arm draped over her waist, feeling her shallow breaths. Some nights she would have nightmares that woke her up in a panic, but lately they seemed to have gotten better, him trying to help her not be so scared.

He felt her body tense and he could see her eyes moving rapidly under her eyelids. Kissing the back of her neck he woke her up gently, his voice soft and low, "You're alright. It ain't real."

She relaxed as he ran his thumb over her cheek and her eyes fluttered open. She'd been curled up a bit too much and needed to stretch, her back pressing against him as she did. He moved from being around her, laying on his back so she could move around easier, but like always she rolled over to lay her head on his chest, nuzzling up to his neck, "Thank you."

"Mmhmm." He ran his thumb over her shoulder as they laid there. Never in his life would he have thought he'd have mornings like this, just laying in a bed with someone laying on top of him, happy to just be near him. The two of them never should have known each other, never should have crossed paths, but there they were, together.

Ren propped her head up on his chest, looking at him with a small smile. One of his hands propped behind his head, his eyes still closed, his face relaxed. She knew he didn't think anything of it, but she thought it was amazing how even when she was asleep, he could make the nightmares go away. He was her real-life dreamcatcher and she hated how cheesy it was that she thought that, but she loved it too.

He could feel her looking at him and he opened one eye to look down at her. Her soft stare made his chest tight as the image of her there was consistently the best one in the world. She reached up and moved a lock of hair out of his face and he lifted his head up more to look at her better, "What?"

"Nothing." Her voice was soft. He let out a fake scoff before giving her a quick peck and setting his head back down. Lifting herself up, her face hovered above his, her hair falling around his face, smiling as he opened his eyes before she pressed her lips to his. Her fingers grazing his jaw line as she took the lead, her tongue sliding into his mouth, Daryl pulled her tight to him. He didn't know what it was about her fingers, but everywhere they skimmed it felt like electricity on his skin.

Moving one of her legs to the other side of his hips, she straddled him, fingers coming through his hair as his grip on her increased. She became more confident each day they were together, getting more comfortable with him and her body again. He couldn't help but find it amazing, it was like watching the most beautiful flower in the world blossom, and when they were at the dorm it was even better because she felt even safer there. Ren broke the kiss, but he tried to follow her up, wanting a little bit more of her passion, but she out maneuvered him, her lips now in a smile, teasingly moving around his mouth, not letting him get to them. Finally, he put his head back down, seeing that she was wide awake. Her grin stayed, "Morning."

"Morning." He replied, his hand on her hip, thumb running over the sliver of exposed skin from between her shirt and shorts.

"What are your plans for the day?" She asked.

"Huntin." He watched as an eyebrow slowly raised on her face, "You're almost outta meat."

"You going to be out over night?" She knew normally he would stay out for multiple days hunting.

He wasn't planning on being way from this, not even for one night, "Nah."

"Okay." She gave him a content smile.

"What about you?" He asked.

"Mostly going to be working on the roof again rotating plants." She answered.

He nodded, "Alright." He patted her hip, "Lemme check your wound."

"O-okay." She said rolling off of him and onto her back. Every time he did this, or rather, his head was in that region, her throat got tight. Ren's cheeks started getting red as he ran his fingers over the skin, and she bit her lip when he placed a kiss over the now almost completely healed wound.

"What?" he asked, seeing her looking no where near his direction, her face beat red.

"What?" She responded.

"What happened?" he was slightly concerned.

"What do you mean? Nothing happened?" Shit her voice cracked.

His brows scrunched, "I do somethin wrong?"

"What? No!" She told him quickly, not wanting him to feel bad.

"Mmm." He realized moving his face to be level with hers, "You like it."

"What?" Her face was still red.

"Me…down there." He felt his own face going red. She tried to protest but the smile on his face told her that she wasn't getting anywhere with it. He told her, "You ain't gotta be ashamed of it. I don have a problem doin it."

"Oh god." She covered her face with her hands, wanting to just shrivel away. The thought of him _doin it_ made the heat in her lower stomach build. He'd been a lot freer with her about these things, her telling him that he didn't have to constantly be worried and that she would tell him if something was uncomfortable. They both knew it seemed like they were moving quick, but so much tension had built up over the months of them being to afraid to do anything.

He kissed her neck then started over her shirt down her stomach, "You want me too?"

 _Fucking hell yes_ , her mind thought as he slowly kissed the area around the waist band of her shorts. The way his tongue moved in her mouth she could only imagine the things it could do if his mouth went just a little bit lower than where it was now, but then she also knew they hadn't made it any further since the night in Alexandria, and she really didn't want that kind of buzz kill to happen in the middle of it. Everything inside of her was arguing as she felt him pull ever so slightly on her waistband. Her embarrassment won out, "Nope. I'm good. I have things that need to get done and corners to go and die from embarrassment in."

She tried to get up but as she did, he pulled her into his arms and onto his lap, kissing her temple, "Why're you embarrassed."

"I'm sorry did you forget what we were just talking about?" She looked at him like he was crazy.

"You mean," His voice was husky as he kissed her neck, "how much you like my mouth."

While she was still getting used to him saying things like this, because he was getting comfortable just like she was, they really drove her fucking insane. Especially as he kissed behind her ear, tongue tracing her lobe. She knew he was teasing her, and she knew he did it to help open her up a bit more, make her more comfortable, which it did because it was more like how she used to be, but some days it just killed her. He was making it hard for her to think as he trailed his mouth down her neck and shoulder, tongue trailing down the skin making her toes curl and her knees press together.

It wasn't something he had typically done before, but for her, he would do it for hours if that's what she wanted, but he would only do it if she said yes, which he doubted she would today, but the thought of it was probably just as pleasurable for him as it was for her. So far, he'd loved every part of her he'd tasted, and he knew this would be no different.

"Not yet." She told him, her voice shaking. She wanted it, she wanted it bad, so bad she was about to go take a cold shower before she even started working, but she wanted to be able to enjoy it completely first. Ren wanted to break through whatever barrier she had before he did something she so desperately wanted. He nodded, kissing her and when she clung him, he broke away with a smirk. She blinked a few times, "Holy shit are you being smug? For the first time, like…ever?"

He used to act smug all the time with Merle, but this wasn't that, it was pride of a sort, pride in her. He patted her hip, "C'mon, we got stuff to do."

"Avoiding, but you're right." She got off of him, before muttering, "Damn sexy asshole."

"What?" he called after her.

"I'm taking a shower." She tried to make it seem like that's what she said.

"Uh huh." He grabbed his bow, "I'll be back."

"Alright." She yelled from the bathroom, still feeling his mouth on her as she turned the water on. Never in her life had she known someone like him, and never in her life had she felt more normal with someone. She'd never felt normal, and she loved it.

* * *

The sun was setting, and he headed up the stairs, having been out all day getting them more meat and she was still on the roof. As he walked out the door Daryl saw her on a connected rooftop, with her Kamas, practicing. He made his way over to where she was, watching her and he could tell, that weapon was deadly, and she knew how to use them. When she noticed he was there she stopped, "Hey, when did you get back?"

"Few minutes." He told her, "You used to 'em yet?"

"It's weird actually having to hold something, but yeah I'm getting used to them." She looked down at the blades, "I don't think I'll ever be as good as Hammond was, but he was a professional who spent years learning it, so it's fair."

"So long as they kill them assholes that's all that matters." He walked over, taking the Kamas from her. He asked, "Are they bigger than me?"

"One of them." She answered, confused. "The other two are about the same size maybe? A little smaller?"

"Kay." He motioned for her to hit him. "C'mon."

"What?"

"So, I don worry as much." He motioned again.

She smirked, "Just because I'm half your size doesn't mean I can't kick your ass."

"Show me." Daryl opened his arms.

"Alright." She shrugged.

He'd seen her fight walkers, and he'd seen her defending herself, but he'd never seen her active in a fight, and that's what he wanted to make sure of, because these guys liked getting close to her and they weren't afraid to beat the shit out of her, which he didn't want to happen. Ren ran towards him and he couldn't believe this was her tactic and began closing his arms around her, but she bent down spinning out of the way. She was faster than he expected despite her small size and she was behind him, hitting his leg in, knocking him down to a knee and putting him in a chock hold. She asked, "Good enough?"

"Nah." He was still stronger than her. He grabbed her arm and pulled her in front of him, knocking her to her back. Again, he didn't expect what she did, which was using her leg to hook under his arm, pulling him down to the ground and moving on top of him, a knee on his chest.

Pulling a knife out of her back pocket she put it to his throat, "As long as I don't panic or get my arms and legs pinned, I'm usually pretty good. My brother was Uncle Negans size."

"Coulda said that." He looked up at her as she put the knife away.

"I could have, but where's the fun in that." She leaned down giving him a peck.

"So, how do I make sure you don panic?" He sat up as she got off of him.

"Make sure I see them before they see me…" She shrugged, her arms folding in front of her stomach, "If I know they're near and I can expect them then it's less of a shock when I encounter them. So basically, don't let them sneak up from behind?"

"Won't let no one do that." He started to stand up then offered his hand to help her up, "Hungry?"

"Very much so." She answered, following him across the bridge back inside the dorm. "I'm going to change."

"Alright." Daryl said as she went into her room. He headed into the kitchen area and wasn't surprised when he heard her.

"Daryl." She called and he headed back to her room, "What is this?"

"What?" he asked as he looked in.

She was looking at the same white dress she'd seen in the shop they'd scavenged. Turning to him, her mouth was hung open, "How…when…why did you get this?"

He shrugged, "Made you smile. Even if ya don wear it, it still makes you happy."

Ren knew he was right, the smile was already on her face. It made her smile even more now because he'd remembered it. She wouldn't be surprised with how observant he was if he'd even gotten the right size. "Still glad I didn't leave you to die."

* * *

 **A/N: Let me know what you guys think :) More stuff coming soon!**


	31. Chapter 31

"So this place is run by a king?" Sera asked as they got out of the car, her tone not amused.

"Yup." Ren told her as she saw Carol, Ezekiel, and Jerry coming up to them.

"Welcome and thank you for offering your services to help us to maintain our power use, we are grateful for your services ladies." Ezekiel smiled at them with a slight head bow.

"Oh, he's that kind of king. Got it." Sera's guard dropped.

"The generators are this way if you want to take a look." Jerry motioned. Ren nodded and the followed the big guy and Sera gave her a worried look, but Ren waved her off mouthing _Teddy bear._ She actually really liked Jerry. He reminded her of the security guards at her old job, big and tough for the people who were trouble, but sweet and gave her and Becca donuts every morning when they got to work. He walked them behind a building and pointed, "These two won't even rev anymore and the others down that way started making funny noises so I think they don't like the over time."

Ren gave him a nod, she and Sera got down on their knees beginning to open up one of the generators and Jerry left them to work. They began taking the entire thing apart and Sera tisked, "The things so black I don't think it's ever been cleaned."

"Tell me about it, it's like they just kept adding gas to it thinking that would keep it going." Ren said wiping down wires to see what condition they were in.

"There's build up everywhere. This might take a few days." Sera told her, "On my end anyways."

"Yeah I know nothing about…" She held up a part of the generator, "This stuff."

"Clearly hermana." Sera took it from her and turned it the correct side up before putting it on the ground. "As long as the wires are good, you shouldn't have much to do at all."

"Yeah but that doesn't mean I'll leave you here alone." Ren told her.

"Never said anything about that…but that doesn't mean you can't spend your days outside the walls…" Sera looked at her. "I've heard the others talking back in Alexandria. Something about a war or whatnot with your Uncle, I don't really care about the details, but I've heard them saying they don't want to be in something like that again. I know the place you stay is secured, you wouldn't be there if it wasn't, but we need to start coming up with plans now just in case. If they decide against us, then we'll need to make sure we can take care of Charlotte and the baby…or we could take them out before they have a chance to vote."

"We do that, we might be on our own anyways." Ren said.

"Yeah but then we won't be being hunted anymore." Sera laid out more pieces of the generator. "April is good enough to help us, and I know Charlotte wants too but she'll need to recover after birth plus the baby will need her then."

"True. I know no matter what we'll still have help from Hilltop." Ren thought about it.

"And Daryl." Sera pointed out.

"Yeah." She nodded, "The only thing we really need is people who know how to deliver a baby and that kind of thing, but the campus should provide us with everything else we need." Ren looked at her friend and nodded, "Draw me up that map tonight."

* * *

"So, Rick wants us to have a meeting, hear them out, then vote about whether or not we should let them kill these people?" Carol wanted to clarify what Daryl was telling them. He nodded and she thought for a moment, "It's not really our place to say is it?"

"Yes, we have no quarrel with these men. But these young ladies are also not members of our charter agreement." Ezekiel said.

"They're holdin' women hostage." Daryl told him, "They deserve it. The end."

"Do they want our help?" Carol asked.

"Nah, Rick wants to put 'em in jail, like he did with Negan. They want 'em dead."

Carol could understand it. When she'd first seen Ren, with how she was around new people, not speaking to them, only being relaxed when Daryl, someone she knew, was around, she had assumed something bad had happened to her. She didn't know what all these men had done other than kidnapping, but from that she could connect the dots since it was only women they took.

"I do agree the women should be freed but, I…I do not know if I would be comfortable signing the death warrant of men I do not know." Ezekiel finally said.

Carol didn't particularly want anymore death, but she knew men like that weren't good, but just because Ed had been an asshole that wouldn't change, didn't mean that these guys couldn't, or that one of them was making the others do it. But she couldn't discount what these girls wanted, "We'll go to the meeting and hear them out."

Daryl nodded, he couldn't even believe that it was something they needed to discuss. Maggie had already told him that if they needed help getting the other girls out that they would be there, he didn't understand why it was so much for everyone else to agree that this needed to stop, permanently.

* * *

That night after dinner they went to their rooms and there was a knock on Rens door. Opening up she saw Daryl standing there and she smiled, holding the door open for him to come in, "What's up?"

"How'd the generators look?" He asked, moving in the room and flopping down on her bed.

She couldn't help but smile at how he was, "Not good at all, Sera's hands are going to be black for a week. And at least take your shoes off."

"You think I'm stayin?" He asked her.

"I don't care one way or the other, but you're laying on my bed." She walked over to him, looking down over him. "So, no shoes on the bed or I'll make you leave."

"Make me, huh?" he asked.

"Yeah, I have things I can do instead to keep myself entertained without you here." She put her hands on her hips, "What'll it be?"

He kicked his shoes off before reaching up to take her by the waist, pulling her down to lay next to him, "What we're you two talkin about at dinner."

"Just…stuff." She answered.

"She was drawin." He wanted her to trust him enough to tell him, but he knew what making plans looked like.

"You won't get mad?" She looked up at him, her chin resting on his chest. He shook his head that he wouldn't, and she told him what they were planning, that she was going to go out and scout to look for where the rest of the hunters were.

"You weren't gunna tell me?" He asked.

"Not…exactly." Ren said. "I was going to ask you to go with me…but to look for stuff to get for the generators or for the dorm but in that area…I was worried that you wouldn't like us trying to strike before Rick decided we needed to leave."

"Don matter what he says, they're dead." Daryl told her, "He ain't right, he don know what they're like. We'll start narrowing places down tomorrow."

She gave him a small smile and kissed him on the jaw. Setting her head back down on his chest she said, "Looks whose going into whose room now."

"I can leave." He realized she might not be comfortable enough to have him there in a place she wasn't used to like Kingdom. But then her grip on him tightened and he couldn't help but have a little smile.

"You aren't going anywhere." She told him before letting him go and starting to get on the bed.

"Then where you goin?" He asked.

"I have to finish getting ready for bed, because unlike you I don't sleep in the same clothes I wear." She picked on him.

"You want me to change?" he looked down at his clothes.

"No. I like you just the way you are Daryl Dixon." Ren leaned over the bed giving him a kiss, a smirk forming on her face, "Plus Aaron told me you shower more now than you did before."

He rolled his eyes at her as she went to go change, laying there waiting for her he heard the water of the sink, hearing her brush her teeth and when she came back out her hair was falling around her face, he loved it that way.

Crawling under the sheets she chuckled as he maneuvered himself underneath them as well. She moved to be closer to him, her head nestling on his shoulder, arm going across his chest. He pulled her tight to him and kissed her on the forehead. They were perfectly content and happy. "What're you gunna do when it's over?"

"Help the others recover…however they need." She told him.

"You guys gunna stay in the dorm?"

Her stomach sank, "Shit. I'm sorry."

"Why?" He asked looking down at her as she looked back up at him.

"I'm used to us going back and forth, I didn't even think about the fact that you would probably want to stay in Alexandria…and might want me to be with you." She told him, "And I'm about to do something that will probably make it to where I can't be there anymore."

"That ain't an issue." He readjusted getting more comfortable, lying his head back down on the pillow, "'Slong as we're together, don matter where it's at." She couldn't help but smile at this, putting her head back down on his shoulder. "I was just wonderin what you were gunna do when you didn have to hide no more."

"Maybe I'll build up the dorm." She thought about it, "Make it bigger, more sustainable for more people. I mean there are four of us right now, plus at least four more, so if they all want to stay there away from people they don't know yet, then more food will have to be grown, and more space cleared out. Plus, for you and probably Uncle Negan for when he comes to visit knowing him."

"That sounds like a nice place for them." Daryl ran his hand up and down her arm, "I'll help how you need."

"I know." She nuzzled into him, "That's why I keep you around."

"Just that?" He asked.

"Other things too." She let out a slight laugh.

"Like what." He peaked down at her with one eye open.

"Like being a good damn pillow." She smirked, before faking and exasperated sigh, "If only you'd turn off the light too."

"What'd I get if I do it?" He asked, moving his hand over to the lamp.

"What do you want?" She knew what he was going to say.

He clicked the light off, not saying what she expected, "I'mma call it in later that you owe me one."

"Owe you one what?" She looked up at him, only able to see from the dim light coming in the room from the window.

"You'll see." He told her. Leaning down he gave her a quick kiss, "Night."

"Night." She muttered putting her head back down.

* * *

 **A/N: I know this is going to sound bad because I'm the one who wrote it but I've really fallen in love with Sera and Ren's friendship XD. Let me know what you guys think of this chapter!**


	32. Chapter 32

Daryl was getting his bow ready while Ren was talking with Sera when Carol walked over to him, "You sleep in her room last night?"

He knew the tone she had made her sound sweet and just curious, but he knew his friend, and he knew that it was a tactic, "Yeah."

"Thought you said it wasn't like that?" She looked up at him, curious.

"Is now." He told her. "Why?"

"Daryl." She sighed, "Why? She's so young-"

"The hells that matter?" He looked at her, trying not to get angry. "She don care about it, none of her people either. Why does it matter to you?"

"Because I don't want you to get hurt." Carol told him, finally telling him the truth, "I don't want her to find someone closer to her age, someone more like her, and then leave you and you end up getting destroyed. You're so attached to her and she's so different from you."

"She ain't that different." He said, "And she ain't like that, she don move on from people."

"How do you know?" Carol asked, "I know that you've known her the longest and I know that she can be trusted now, but how do you know she's not like that, that she won't end up hurting you?"

"How'd you know that King of yours won't hurt you?" Daryl asked, "Y'all ain't similar."

Carol knew he was right, "Because I took time with Ezekiel. How long have you two had together like this?"

"I've known her almost a year." He said.

"No, not just known her, been together." She said.

He shrugged, "Three weeks?"

"And from that you're sure?" Carol asked, she knew that she had to trust his judgement as much as she cared and worried about him.

"Yeah." He didn't even hesitate.

She nodded, accepting his answer, not wanting to make her friend mad and smiled, "You guys are going to look for parts and stuff today?" He nodded at her as Ren began walking back over, "I'll come and help."

"You don have to." Daryl told her as Ren came up to them.

"No, I want too." Carol smiled, "More hands to get stuff and more feet to cover ground, right?"

"Yeah." He couldn't say no without their lie of what they were actually doing being exposed. He shot Ren an apologetic look and she just shrugged, either way she was still going out to do what she had planned. She knew that Carol and Daryl were friends, but she could tell the woman wasn't completely sure about her, but it was only fair because the feeling was mutual.

Daryl wasn't sure how this was going to go, but he put his bow on his shoulder and the three of them headed out.

* * *

They were looking through a residential area that had been in the radius of Sera's map, but he'd told Carol it was to look at home generators and AC units for parts that could work in Kingdom. Ren signaled to Daryl that she was going to go look in the back yard of some of the houses and he nodded, "Stay in yellin distance though."

She smirked, rolling her eyes before signaling that she knew. Carol watched her go out to the back of the house, taking care of the walker in the back yard and asked, "She alright to be out there on her own?"

"She can handle herself." Daryl answered before flipping the lawn mower in the garage upside down to try to get to its engine.

* * *

Ren had taken apart one AC unit and took what things she needed before pulling out her binoculars. She was looking for any sign of movement in the other houses, something that would show that they were there. She didn't see anything, but in the middle of the community was a park, and in that park, she saw a deflated bouncy house. She knew the compressor that kept it inflated might have things in its Sera could use.

Looking from the house that Daryl and Carol were in to the distance away, she knew she'd still be good if she went over there, plus it would give her the chance to look at other houses. She crossed the back yard of another house and made her way across the street. It must have been a nice neighborhood before it all happened. A large pond in the middle of the park, trees making shade over what was probably once perfectly kept grass. Tables set out for picnics.

She bent down and looked under the deflated house, jostling the material trying to find the component she was looking for. A hand wrapped around her ankle and she gasped, a muncher trying to pull her to its mouth. Taking a Kama from her hip she stabbed it in the head and caught her breath. Shaking it off, she kept looking, and found not just the compressor, but that it was hooked to a small generator. Even if Sera couldn't use it for Kingdom, they could use it at the dorm. Smiling she stood up and was hit from the side, pulled behind a tree, "Please, please, you have to help me."

The girl was dirty and shaking, tears in her eyes as she looked at Ren, "These men, they stole me from my group…please I've been running from them for days."

"Michael and the others?" Ren asked, her eyes growing wide. This girl, once better, might be able to tell her where they were at.

"You…you know them?" The woman looked her up and down, "You're the one they've been hunting?"

Ren nodded her head with a smile, letting the girl know she was safe.

The woman wrapped her arms around Ren, holding her tight then started yelling, "KEVIN I FOUND HER!"

* * *

Daryl dropped the part in his hand, running faster than Carol had ever seen him to the sound of the screaming. Looking around he couldn't see where Ren was at from the back yard. Carol pointed seeing the women poking out behind a tree, "Over there!"

Ren was keeping the knife from her face, she didn't want to hurt the girl, she was clearly sick. But from over the girl shoulder she could see him walking over to them, a smile on his face. Kicking the girl in the stomach, Ren then pushed her to the ground, hoping she wouldn't get back up. She ran, pulling out both of her Kamas, swiping at Kevin but he dodged behind a tree, "Well shit Serenity, it's nice to see you too."

When he came around the other side of the tree, he shoved a muncher at her, and she had to put her hands up to keep it from biting into her neck as he kept pushing it towards her. Her Kamas were now stuck in the shoulders of the body and she struggled to get them free while keeping it's mouth away from her skin. An arrow pierced its head and the body went limp in between her and Kevin.

"No!" The girl yelled from the ground, grabbing her knife again, "Don't hurt him!"

Daryl was taken back by the girl's swiftness as she swiped at him with the knife, the blade cutting across his chest. Carol pulled out her knife, but Ren called out, still wrestling with Kevin, "Don't hurt her! She needs help!"

Carol couldn't believe this, but Daryl had managed to get ahold of the girl's arm now and was trying to pry the knife from her. Daryl called out, "Walkers!"

She was allowed to kill those so Carol did, the girl's yelling must have gotten their attention.

Kevin finally beat her out in strength, knocking her back to the ground, but Ren pulled him down with her, the muncher still in between them. She wrestled him despite the body on top of her and she managed to get a Kama free. He tried to get a grip on her arms, her blade leaving cuts and punctures all over him while they tussled. She let out an angry yell and tried to maneuver to be on top of him, but instead they ended up rolling together, the muncher throwing off her balance and eventually out from between them as they went down into the pond, her losing her grip on the weapons on the way down.

Her head went under the water and Kevin did everything he could to hold her there. Daryl watched, still trying to hold onto the struggling girl, but he couldn't do it and hit her on the back of the head, knocking her out to go to Ren. Carol started running down to the water too now that most of the walkers were taken care of.

Ren couldn't open her eyes in the dirty water, her hands gripping around his wrists or trying to scratch at his face as he held her down by the throat, him still being stronger than her. She knew she had to do something, reaching around she tried to feel for a rock big enough to hit him with, but instead she felt the handle of one of her Kamas, it must have slid with them. Reaching for it, she gripped it tight and swung.

Daryl saw as her arm came out from under the water, the blade of her weapon sinking deep into the mans back, and her yanking on it to slit him open, his blood and guts falling out of him and into the water. The mans body went limp then was pushed to the side as Ren sat up, wiping the bloody water off her face. He went to her, knee deep in the water, and helped her up.

Carol watched as he checked her for any injuries, saw how much he cared about her, and knew that nothing else mattered but that, because it was the same thing for her and Ezekiel after a close call.

Ren finally caught her breath again and when she went to look at him, she saw the cut across his chest and the blood pouring from it. Cupping the back of his neck she asked, "God, Daryl. Are you okay?"

"Yeah." He held her. Her lips connected with his and he held her tight. Carol couldn't help but feel bad, watching the concern Ren had for her friend. She really did seem to care about Daryl, and that was the only other thing that mattered.

"Sorry." She said, "I didn't realize she'd hurt you."

"It's alright." He told her, "What'd'ya wanna do with her?"

The three of them looked back at the still unconscious woman and Ren thought about it, "Take her with us, see what she knows…see if we can help her."

"Then let's get her and everything else back to the car." Carol said, "We need to make sure Daryl doesn't need stitches."

"Yeah, you're right." Ren nodded and began walking out of the water. "I think I have a clean towel in my bag to help with the bleeding."

* * *

 **A/N: This was an interesting one to write haha. Let me know what you guys think!**


	33. Chapter 33

They'd put the girl in Shiva's old cage, both Carol and Ren forcing Daryl to go see the doctor instead of helping them. Sera had joined them in watching her cowering in the corner, crying hysterically, shaking back and forth. She hadn't answered any of their questions, she hadn't said much of anything other than crying and screaming about Ren killing 'her Kevin'.

Finally leaving the room, knowing they wouldn't get anywhere, at least not that night, they walked into the auditorium where Ezekiel was waiting for them. Sera asked, "What do we do with her?"

"I think…" Ren didn't really know what to do, "I think we should stay until we have the generators fixed. Check in on her, make sure she's fed and has water. Give her the chance to shower if she wants." Daryl walked in the room, more than likely coming to see how things were going and Ren met his eyes for a moment then looked back at the others, "Maybe she needs time to be away from them."

"I thought you said that they did not feed them well, she appears to still be healthy." Ezekiel asked.

"I've never seen her before, it means they got her in the past three months or so." Sera told him, "Or maybe since she didn't fight them, and followed them instead she was rewarded because she wouldn't try to run or fight."

"What happens when the generators are fixed?" Carol asked, the girl seemed like she had some type of Stockholm syndrome, "What are you going to do with her then?"

"Take her to Alexandria." Ren looked at her, "Rick wants someone to rehabilitate in that cell, then it should be her out of all of them."

Ezekiel nodded, "We will see to it that she is properly taken care of, part of our thanks for your services, and if she says anything that might be of use to finding out where the other women are, we will let you know."

"Thanks." Ren said walking down from the stage.

Sera went with her, "Hey, I'm gunna hit it for tonight, if you need anything, let me know hermana."

"Kay." Ren smiled at her as she got to where Daryl was. He turned to start walking with her as she asked, "How's your chest?"

"It'll be fine." He told her as they headed for their room, "How're you?"

"Tired." She told him, "And confused and…glad you're okay." When the door to the room was shut, she wrapped her arms around him, "I'm sorry. I didn't think she would be that dangerous, I thought she would be weaker…I didn't think she would hurt you."

"It's just a scratch." He looked down at her, his thumb grazing over the bruises on her neck, "What about this?"

"It doesn't matter." She looked up at him. And it didn't, because his hand was already there instead. Leaning up she pressed her lips to his, holding him tightly, "I put her above you, and I shouldn't have done that. You got hurt because of it."

"Cause you know she's been hurt, she needs help." He pulled her tight to him, "It's what makes you, you."

A small smile pulled at her lips as he looked at her and he thought about that moment of panic when she was under the water and he thought that he wouldn't make it in time. He gave her a long searing kiss before asking, "You're tired?"

"A bit yeah." She answered.

"Go change." He told her, giving her a light push towards the bathroom.

She gave him a suspicious look as she headed to do what he said, not quite sure what he was doing. Normally when he kissed her like that, he didn't stop that quick. When she came back out in a button down and shorts, he was already laying in the bed, arm behind his head, watching her as she came over. She watched him carefully too, wondering what he was up to as she pulled back the sheets and climbed into the bed.

Once she was down, Daryl had an arm around her, lips over hers. She couldn't help but smile, his tongue finding hers as he moved to be more on top of her, his body pressing against hers. He kissed her deep and hard, his hand on her hip, feeling her skin. Her fingers went for the buttons of his shirt, he didn't stop her, she could have whatever she wanted. When the shirt was unbuttoned completely, she pushed it from him, careful of his bandage, but he never left her mouth, his kisses getting deeper.

His hand massaged her hip as she gripped at the skin of his back, fingers going through his hair. She gasped slightly, feeling his hips grind against hers. He hadn't meant to do it, it was instinctual from the way she was responding to him, but he felt her move a leg to the side, hooking it on his hip. Grinding against her again she let out a soft moan as he began kissing down her neck, his hand unbuttoning her top. He knew she'd tell him to stop, and until she did, he'd go until she was satisfied.

With her top open his hand focused on her breast while his mouth thoroughly covered her neck and chest. She bit her lip, her back arching as he toyed with the hardened bud. Ren loved the fact that they were taking it slow in their own way, but in moments like this, she just wanted to completely have him, despite what her reaction might be. His mouth had found her nipple and she moaned his name as he sucked on it, flicking it with his tongue.

God, he loved her reactions, the way she gripped at his head, fingers tangled in his hair, thighs gripping him as he moved against her, breathlessly making little whimpers and gasps of pleasure. He moved to her other mound, hungry for all of her he could have, and he could feel himself growing in his pants. She could too and didn't care, wanting it, wanting him, despite not knowing exactly what she should do.

His mouth started moving down her stomach, kissing her ribs, and belly button. She whimpered as his mouth went lower, right to the edge of her shorts. He licked and kissed the skin, his voice filled with passion, "What'd'ya want?"

 _Everything_ , she thought. His mouth still moving on her lower stomach made it hard for her to focus, but she kept thinking about his hard on against her. Her hand tangled in his hair and gave a gentle tug for him to come back up. He did, his lips meeting her for a brief moment, but before he could ask what she wanted again he felt her take his hand, letting out a nervous breath as she slid it under her underwear. Daryl had thought she'd given up on this, the few times they'd done it she'd stopped him, but if it's what she wanted, he wouldn't say no.

Her eyes were on his, a blush going over her face as she reached for his belt buckle. His stomach went tight, and he felt himself getting more excited feeling her hand down there, undoing his pants. She froze though as his finger ran against her clit, her eyes closing in pleasure, before she was able to focus again. Daryl slid a finger into her as her hand wrapped around him, his breath shuttering as she began stroking his shaft. He'd never expected anything like this from her, but it wasn't surprised at how great it was, her hands had always felt amazing on him.

Reaching with her other hand she pulled him down to her, lips connecting, kissing him through their shared extasy. She matched the pace at which he was moving in and out of her and he moaned into her mouth now. Moving her thumb over his head she went down his length and knew that when they got there, he would feel amazing inside of her, the thought of it making her stomach go tight as his fingers and thumb worked her at that moment.

Daryl wasn't sure how long he would last with how thorough she was being, her fingers lacing around him, pumping him. He broke the kiss, trying to concentrate on what his hand was doing but he couldn't, she had completely consumed his every sensation with just her hand, and he knew he was going to cum. He wanted to tell her first though, "R-Ren, I'm gunna…"

"It's okay." She whispered in his ear, pulling his head down to her shoulder, holding him as she worked her hand, "I want you to."

He was frozen in pleasure now, unable to even think with the orgasm so close. Letting out a grunt and moan he came in her hand and she felt him relax slightly. He wanted to repay her for that as much as was possible. She gasped as his mouth reconnected to her nipple and his hand started moving in her again. Her hands gripped at him, holding on to him as he made her stomach tight with his actions. He was completely engulfing her, his hand hitting both bundles of nerves.

Rens knees pushed together and her toes curled as she tried to get air in her lungs. Her back was arching to his hand and he stopped what he was doing with her mouth, wanting to make sure she was okay, because he could feel her getting close, "Ren?"

"Don't stop." She breathed out and that was the first time she'd given him that response in this situation, so he wasn't going to stop. He kept moving his fingers while holding her tight with the other arm, and she clung to him, she was almost there and despite the tightness in her chest, the one in her lower stomach was more powerful. She gasped his name, fingers digging into his back as she tightened around him, her body arching against him, and he didn't stop his movements until she was all the way done. Pressing her lips to his, she smiled, trying to catch her breath.

"You okay?" he asked, pulling his hands from her shorts.

"Trying to figure out why the hell I even considered leaving you to die that day. That was amazing." She blushed as she told him, a small smile on her face. She joked, "Maybe I should almost die more often."

"No." He didn't want to hear that, not even as a joke.

"Well, I wasn't going to let it be you getting hurt more often." She cupped his face, kissing him with a wider smile. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and they kissed gently.

"It ain't gotta be neither of them, could just be all the time." His lips brushed against hers as he spoke.

"Yeah, I think it could." She couldn't stop her smile, she wasn't sure what it had been, but now she thought they might be able to do anything with each other since the barrier had been broken.

They remained in each other's arms, holding each other, kissing slow and happily until they fell asleep.

* * *

 **A/N: Don't forget to let me know what you guys think. More chapters coming soon! :)**


	34. Chapter 34

Arriving to the gates of Alexandria they had a bag over the girl's head, she still hadn't even said her name and Ren honestly didn't know how many tears her eyes could produce with how constantly she'd been crying. Her persistence that they were the bad guys was beginning to really annoy her. Carol and Jerry had come with them for the meeting, Ezekiel staying back to be with the community and his son, stating he trusted the other twos judgement on the case. Sera had said that the man was to kind to hear about what had been done to other human beings and Ren couldn't help but agree with her, but now felt bad for Jerry who would have to deal with it.

Rick came up to them as they walked with the woman, her hands tied behind her back, "Who's this?"

"Don't know." Ren answered, pulling the bag off her head, "You want to rehabilitate someone, why don't you find out who she is, what they did to her, where they're at, and how we can help her."

"You don't want to help!" The woman barked at her, then more tears formed in her eyes, "You cut him open."

"Yeah." Ren looked at her, "Yeah I cut Kevin open, because he was holding my head under water while squeezing his hands around my throat. I couldn't breathe, and even if I could have taken in a breath, I still couldn't have breathed. I killed him because he was going to kill me. Just like Brad wants to do. Just like Michael wants to do."

"Because you killed the others. You killed his brother!" The woman cried out as Charlotte, April, Negan, and Michonne all came over.

"Nah, I killed his brother." Daryl told her, "Because his brother was going to hurt and kill her."

"So what? That's how the world works? Judge, jury and executioner all at once in a single moment?" She stammered through tears, "Kevin didn't even get a chance to defend himself."

"Then why don't you defend him?" Negan said, "Tell us. You clear his name and maybe we'll spare the other two, you like them as much as Kevin, don't you?"

Ren shot her Uncle a look and he gave her a look she knew well, one he used to give her when he heard people being rude to their waitresses, or someone making a big fuss about their customer service, a look that said, ' _I got this._ ' Her jaw set tight, but she gave him a small nod.

"It wasn't the same with them as it was with him, but yeah, I like them." The girl answered. Sera's eyeroll was so loud they could almost hear it.

Negan knelt down to be about the same height as her, giving her a warm smile, pointing to Rick, "This here is my good friend Rick, he used to be a police officer. I used to be a teacher. Why don't you come with us and tell us everything about these boys and what it is that this lady did that was so bad to them. Alright?"

The girl nodded her head and Negan and Rick started leading her away. Ren watched them leave, "Jackass."

"He's not serious, is he?" Charlotte asked.

"No, he's not." Ren sighed, "Well he is about the teacher thing. He was _really_ good at it. Good at getting kids to talk about their problems and helping them out."

"Really?" Jerry looked down at her and she nodded

"Then how the hell did he end up how he was when we ran into him." Michonne couldn't help but wonder.

"Never said he didn't have an ego." Ren looked at her, "And then also losing your entire family in pretty much a month probably didn't help."

"No…" Sera said, "I can agree that something like that happening can change a person."

"All we're waiting on is people from Hilltop to arrive, then we can hear everyone out on what they think about what you guys want to do." Michonne told them, then looked after the direction Negan and Rick had gone, "And hopefully, we'll be able to hear everyone. We sent a message to them when we saw you guys coming, so it might not be until tomorrow."

"Good, that'll give them plenty of time to talk to her." Sera looked at her, "Plenty of time to hear her truth."

* * *

"She can't be serious." April said, "I don't care how new she is, there's no way that she likes them."

"We think it might be…" Sera looked at Ren, "What was it you called it?"

"Stockholm syndrome." Ren helped her out.

"Right, that. That maybe she convinced herself if she liked them and did everything, they told her to that they would be good to her too?" Sera wasn't sure how that could even be possible.

"Well I mean they did have her out and not tied up." Ren ran her hand over her face, "They've been feeding her well it seems, or she was taken very recently, and she was helping them set a trap for another girl to be taken."

"How do you know that's what it was?" Charlotte asked.

"Well I mean I don't, it's just a hypothesis, but she had no clue who I was until I asked her if the person who had taken her was Michael, so I'm just inferring that it was some type of trap to catch a new girl." Ren told them.

"Wow." Sera looked at her, "Those degrees really came in handy for that _inference_ didn't it?"

"Shut up." Ren laughed shoving her.

"If she really is under their spell then how the hell are we going to fair in this trial thing?" April asked them.

"It doesn't matter, they're dead anyways." Sera told her.

"But I mean, wouldn't it be better if we stayed on these people's good side? Even if we kill Michael and Brad, and go to the dorm and live perfectly safe…what's to stop another group from coming in? A bigger group that we can handle?" She asked. "Who do we ask for help then?"

"Hilltop." Ren answered, "They're with us one hundred percent after what all happened."

"That's good, but wouldn't more friends be better?" Charlotte added, "I'm not saying I don't think we could make it on our own, but the three of us, and the others that we get out, we haven't lived in this world that long. Not like these people have, not like you have Ren. And those girls will need the medicine and treatment that we've gotten. Hilltop doesn't have as good of a doctor as Alexandria, Enid is still learning…and how many of them might be like me?"

"I hate it when you're right, mi hermosa." Sera groaned.

"Well we kind have been here just the two of us to talk about it." Charlotte smiled at her with a chuckle.

"Ladies." Negan came into the kitchen, "Having a little pow wow, plan of action, call to arms situation?"

"How's it going?" Ren ignored his obnoxiousness.

"Good. We're really starting to bond." He smiled at her, opening the fridge, "We're taking a break and I thought that when we went back, she might like some food and fresh clothes."

"Kay." She squinted her eyes at him.

"Guys don't worry. I'm still on your side." He told them, "I want those fucking dick bag assholes dead just as much as you do. And I think Rick might be realizing it too."

"Really?" April perked up.

"You think he might not kick us out." Charlotte said with a smile.

"Well he'd have to go that over my, and I'm sure Daryls dead body, but yeah, I think he might just be thinking of hunting them down himself before his daughter grows up." Negan looked at them and gave them a smile, "It'll be alright. And Charlotte stop stressing out so much, it's not good for the baby."

"Nothing I do but sit around, relax, and eat your cooking is good for the baby." She smiled at him.

"I know. So just be happy and do that." He headed up the stairs.

They all just looked at each other and when he came back down the stairs and headed for the front door Ren followed him out, "Uncle Negan. What's her name?"

"Victoria." He turned around and told her, "She's nineteen years old and was in a group with her mom when they took the both of them. She says they went out too far looking for food and that's how they got them. Said that if she did what they told her to do, they'd let her mom go and they did."

"How…how do we help someone like her?" Ren asked, not wanting to point out something obviously wrong with what she'd told him, "Someone who thinks that what happened to them was okay…that they deserved it, I guess?"

His smile fell as he looked at her, "I…I don't know. But we'll all figure it out."

"Okay." She nodded, knowing he wasn't lying, but not feeling that much more confident about it.

* * *

She was sitting on the front steps of the porch when Daryl came out. He went down behind her, and sat on the step above her, his legs on either side of her as he put his arms around her, pulling her back to lean on him, "You okay?"

"Uncle Negan brought me her ped pan." Ren sighed and then held up a pregnancy test, "It's positive."

"Shit." Daryl closed his eyes.

"She's a kid." She deflated into him, "A goddamn kid and now she's got so many hard choices up ahead and she probably doesn't even see them as that, because she thinks she likes what they've done to her."

"I'm sorry." He held her close. He knew how much she wanted to help the girl, but it made her angry the way she defended the men. It was tearing her apart how she felt about the situation. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a cigarette and lit it in his mouth before holding it in front of hers. She raised an eyebrow at him, and he shrugged, "Heard pretty girls shouldn't light their own."

She let out a small laugh and took a hit of the cigarette. Leaning her head on him they sat in silence sharing the stick and let the night grow later. "Daryl?"

"Hmm?" he responded, mid hit.

"What are they going to ask us tomorrow?" She asked him.

"Don really know…" He hated that he knew this much, "Probably about what they did…"

"Do…do you really want to be in there for that?" She looked up at him, "We haven't ever really talked about it. I mean…I know you know what happened, but you don't really _know._ "

He swallowed hard thinking about it, he knew more than he'd ever wanted to already, but the way she was talking, the way her voice sounded confused and conflicted, made him want to whisk her away so she didn't have to talk about it at all. He could tell she wanted him there, for support, for comfort, but she didn't want him to hear anything, she was afraid it would hurt him too much. He tossed the butt of the cigarette away, "You want me there?"

"I don't want you to think of me different." She looked away from him, her hands picking at each other, "I don't want you to think I'm fragile or…or dirty."

"Look at me." He told her and after a second, she did. He put his finger on her chin to keep her there and he said, "Nothin, nothin will make me see you as anything but what you are. Strong. Smart. Brave. Resourceful. It don matter what she says. It don matter what gets said tomorrow. Cause it's done. And when it ain't, when it comes back, I'll be right here."

Placing his lips on hers he held her close, then moved them to the top of her head as she nuzzled into his shoulder. They stayed there, her breathing getting slower as she relaxed into him more and more, taking in his scent, one of the only things that could make her feel completely at ease.

"You should go to bed." He whispered against her hair.

"I want to stay like this." She muttered.

"I know," He told her, "and we will. But inside."

Putting his arm under her legs he scooped her up, carrying her into the house and then into their room. Maneuvering the sheets, he laid her down and then climbed in on the other side. Within moments of him being on his side she was already curled into him, her head against his chest and arm nestled against his stomach. This wasn't the position he'd planned on going with, but he didn't care as he put his arm around her, feeling her falling asleep.

* * *

 **A/N: Just some set up for the next chapter...it's gunna be a rough one. Let me know what you guys think of this one though!**


	35. Chapter 35

*******************Trigger warning for some people in this one for talk about certain things!*********************

* * *

The four of them were sat at an angle facing the table in front of them. The girl, Victoria sat on the other side of the angle facing the table as well. Sitting there, the committee of leaders, was Rick and Michonne, Maggie and Jesus, Carol and Jerry, and Cyndie and Beatrice. Ren was worried about those last two, she'd never interacted much with the people of Oceanside, so she had no idea what to expect, or even if they would care.

"So, where do we start?" Maggie looked at the others at the table, unable to believe that this was even a thing that was happening. "Because based on what I've seen and heard, I know where I stand."

"Same." Jesus said, leaning back in his chair.

"We don't know anything about what's going on." Cyndie mentioned.

"Long story short is they want to jail men that we want to kill." Sera said.

"Because you're blood thirsty cunts." Victoria looked at them.

"Dios, por favor, no me dejes matarla." Sera muttered.

"Three years." Ren said, "That's how long they've held Sera and Charlotte captive. One for April. They had me for just about one. And they held Victoria for a little more than two months."

"They didn't hold me!" She yelled, "It was my choice!" She pointed at Ren, "You were the stupid bitch that blew up their home, made them go on the run. That destroyed all their research on the sickness."

"Research?" Charlotte looked at her, "That's what they told you they were doing? Trying to find the cure for something that kills people isn't found by _killing more people_."

"The people were sick and dying anyways! They were being helpful in their last days!" Victoria looked at the panel in front of them.

"Last days my ass!" Sera stood up, "My perfectly healthy little brother had his arms and legs bitten by those dead fuckers and then they cut off the limb! All four of them! They made those his last days."

Charlotte took her arm and pulled her back down, April now taking over, "There's only two of them left. Two. Compared to the people they've hurt and killed, that they're going to hurt and kill…the people they are hurting now…they have my sister. I don't know what they've done to her, but if it's anything like what they did to me…then I want them dead."

"Oh, and what is it they did to you that was so bad?" Victoria looked at her, sarcasm in her voice, "Gave you shelter, food, kept you protected. That's all so horrible."

"They beat me and they raped me over and over again." April spoke through clenched teeth, "They did that to all of us. They did it to you."

"No, they didn't. I wanted it, just like you wanted it. Don't lie." The girl rolled her eyes. "Plus, you're trying to sit here and say that because they 'raped' you they deserve to die? No one was ever put to death before for rape. Because rape isn't murder."

Ren was standing in a second when that was said, her eyes filled with rage as she looked at the girl. Her fists clenched so tight her nails cut into her palms. Her voice shook with anger and nausea, "That's what you think? You think what they did to us doesn't deserve their death? Then tell that to Meredith, Kelsey, Deja, Angelique, Becca …Rachel." She felt her whole body shaking, "Right, you can't. Because they're all fucking dead!"

She was gone. Out the doors, unable to breath anymore being in that room. Charlotte tried to stand to follow her out to make sure she was alright, but Daryl was already going so Sera pulled her down. Ren and Daryl were in the door way of the meeting hall, Ren's chest heaving, and he just had a hand on her back trying to keep her steady, as she tried to stop from hyperventilating. Sera spoke, looking at Victoria, "Did they ever tell you about Rachel?"

"Who?" Victoria asked, very blasé.

"Rachel. She was one of the first ones they caught." Sera told her. "Ren and Becca were caught not long after." Her eyes fell to the floor, "They were a lot alike, Rachel and Ren."

"They were strong." Charlotte said, "They kept us strong, kept us wanting to be alive. Rachel was the driving force in the fact that we were going to escape…she would pick on us every time we would pick on Ren about her saying ' _don't worry, I'm coming up with a plan.'_ She would tell Ren to keep it up, stay strong, that she was going to get out with Becca, that Rachel would help her get them out and she'd get us all out…" Tears started to form, "She was…she was really good at keeping us…keeping us up. I remember she sang after…after my first night. Made me feel better…not alone."

"She did it for Ren too." Sera looked down at her girlfriend, "After her first removal…she was in so much pain she could barley stand up, and Rachel sang to her…She was the leader of our little pack." Sera wiped her nose as she sniffled, "And they figured that out. Rachel and Ren were the two, the two that hadn't given them what they wanted yet. They wanted them to scream. To beg for it to stop."

"God they were so rough on them." Charlotte put her hands in her head, "I swear I heard Rens rib break that night. But it didn't matter. How hard they beat them, how much they…hurt them…they never gave in."

"Even when they cuffed all of us to our cell doors." Sera grew angry now, "They cuffed us all there as they pulled Rachel from her cell and they…" Her voice shook, "They did everything you can imagine and more…so much fucking more, right in front of us." She couldn't help but laugh, "But Rachel she was a stubborn bitch. She didn't give in. Not once. She didn't scream, she didn't cry, she cussed them out the entire time with all of us being forced to watch." Sera looked back at Victoria, "So if you think that rape isn't murder then you tell that to her, because she died that day…during what they did to her. And then they moved on to Ren with that treatment but kept her alive. So, if you can't understand why she wants them dead…then you aren't human either."

Daryl couldn't take it anymore. Victoria was saying something, but he couldn't hear it. His blood pumping in his ears after hearing all of that, feeling Ren shaking under his hand. He stormed back into the room, right in the middle of Victoria's stupid attempt at a defense, "Enough! We ain't here for any of this shit. If you don think those fuckers deserve it then you're fucking wrong."

"Daryl." Rick tried to interrupt him.

"No!" Daryl yelled back, "You ask your fucking wife what she heard Ren sayin the night she was takin care of Judith! You fucking ask her. And if she don't think that's enough either then I'm fucking done with all of you."

"What'd she say?" Rick asked Michonne and she relayed what she'd heard about the three pregnancies being terminated at month three.

"That's normal!" Victoria said, then pointed to Charlotte, "They still do it to the girls who they find out are stupid enough to get knocked up, like her. They were just too late to the punch on that one I guess."

"Bitch!" Charlotte said before crying out in pain grabbing her stomach.

"What is it?" Sera turned to her immediately.

"I…I think the babies coming." The last part of the statement came out in another cry.

"Come on, we need to get you to the delivery room." Saddiq rushed to her.

Maggie jumped up from behind the table and went around to help them all, Ren coming back in to rush to her friends' side as Sera had her other side. Daryl stayed close to Ren as they went to the medical house and when they went into the delivery room they stayed outside with April as Sera, Maggie, and Saddiq went in with Charlotte.

Daryl could see her face was pale looking at the shut door. She slid down the wall, her eyes closing tight as she heard the pained sounds of her friend on the other side, her heart beating fast despite the tightness in her chest. He knelt down to try and make sure she was alright, but she pushed him away, jumping at his touch before slamming her hand on the wall and leaving the house.

A rage boiled within her. She moved swiftly back to the meeting house and she pushed through the door, people still mulling about the scene that had just happened and she went right for Victoria. Negan jumped out in front of her and took her by the waist, keeping her from jumping the girl.

"I'm going to kill them." Ren told her, then looked at Rick and everyone else still on the panel, "I don't care about what you all say here. I'm going to kill them." She pointed at the signed charter on the wall, "My name, my community isn't up there, so we don't have to abide by those rules, but I will, and I decide what's best for my community is for them to be dead. So that the baby that's being born right now will be safe."

"Ren." Negan said.

"No, fuck all of this." She told him then threw the pregnancy test that was in her pocket at the girl, "That's fucking yours. I guess you were one of the stupid bitches who got knocked up too. _Because they don't give a fuck about you either._ You know what they would do right now? They'd kick and punch you in the stomach until you miscarried. You know why? Because a baby's too much to take care of out in that world they live in, but that doesn't mean that their fuck fest should have to end does it? Nope, so they'd just beat that baby out of you. You think that's what your mother would have wanted? That she would have wanted any of this for you?"

"What?" Victoria asked, her face going pale.

"You think she would have wanted your baby to be killed just because the dads didn't want to deal with it? Because now you're going to be a mother, and now that's a thing you would have to think about for your child." Ren told her, before pulling out of her uncles' arms, her eyes still on the girl, "And if you honestly think that your mother is alive, then you clearly don't know them as well as you think you do. Because if your mom is still walking, she sure as hell isn't breathing."

Turning around she walked out of the hall, heading for her house and her room. Grabbing her Kamas, she put them on her hips then headed for the gates of the town. Daryl was trying to keep up with her as she went, "Where you goin?"

"Out." She answered, "Sera said she needed a beater, I'm getting her one."

"I'm goin with you." He'd never let her leave alone before on foot.

"No." She told him, "I'm going to go look for a car and look for those assholes. Alone."

And with that she was gone. He knew he could track her. Hell, in an hour he might start, but for now he didn't know what to do other than watch the gate close as she walked. He hated what he'd heard, and he knew she hated him hearing it.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys, I know this chapter didn't come as soon as normal and I'm really sorry! Life just kinda gut punched me at the end of the week and then that made me second guess this whole chapter and all that kind of stuff and it's just been a tiring few days haha. Be sure to tell me what you think and I'll have another one soon I promise!**


	36. Chapter 36

Sera made her way up the stairs of the dorm and unlocked the door to the second floor. She went down the hall and to the living area where she saw a body underneath a pile of blankets. Moving to be laying on the side that Ren was facing, she looked at her friend, "Hey."

"Hey." Her voice was soft, "Daryl bring you here to talk to me?"

"Maggie." Sera answered, "I jacked the keys from Daryl. He's been to worried about you to notice. You've been gone two days and he lost your tracks, surprised he didn't think to look here."

"He probably did…" Ren told her, curling up more in her blankets, "But he didn't want to see me."

Sera let out a laugh, "Please, the only thing he wants to do is see you. Plus, Rick and the others want to talk to you…Charlottes had the baby, she wants you to meet her… anything else I should say to get you to come back?"

"How can I?" She covered her face, "The shit I said…how I acted…the things he heard."

"What about them?" Sera asked.

"I told that girl her mom was dead, threw a positive pregnancy test at her when she's just as fucked up as I am. I stormed in there not even thinking about the stuff we'd all talked about and told them I didn't give a fuck about their decisions and that I was going to kill the last two anyways."

"That's not what this is about though is it hermana?"

"No." Ren pulled the blankets over her mouth, trying to keep herself together, "How…how could he even want to look at me after hearing what they did…how could he even want to touch me?"

"Easy." Sera moved hair out of Rens face, then cupped it, "Because you deserve to be looked at, and touched, and loved, you deserve to be treated well, and Daryl does all of that. He loves you Ren. He looks at you the way I look at Charlotte. We fell in love after everything that happened…and while it was happening. If we managed that, then you two can manage this. I know it's hard," Sera's voice shook, "I know it's so damn hard to wonder how the hell any one could want you after that, but it's possible, and with him it's real. He loves you so much that he said he was fucking done with all of them if they decided that the assholes didn't deserve to die."

"I know…but how?" Ren started crying.

"How isn't important." Sera wrapped her in her arms, "All that matters is he does."

"I'm sorry." Ren told her.

"For what?"

"I made you leave Charlotte after she just had a baby." Ren held her tight, "I'm sorry I couldn't help her…but the sounds…her crying. It just took me back there."

"I know…it did me too." Sera said, "That's why I understood that you needed time…because after that little baby was born, I needed time too." Sera gave her a kiss on the forehead, "Are you ready to go back now? Maggie is waiting downstairs for us."

"I probably should huh?" She looked up at her friend.

"I think Daryl would appreciate it." Sera smiled at her.

"Let me change…" Ren sat up letting the blankets flop off of her, "I found you a car by the way, I don't know how well it runs, but it's a nice car."

"Cool, we'll go look at it tomorrow." Sera said as she watched Ren go to her room and change.

* * *

Ren didn't know where Daryl was when they got back to Alexandria, but she knew she had things to do first. Sera had said Charlotte was still in the delivery area recovering and that's where they headed. She knocked on the door and when the woman said she could come in her face lit up, "Ren! You're back!"

"Yeah." Ren smiled walking over to the bed where the woman held her baby.

"Meet Becca." Charlotte gave her a smile, "I think the name is perfect."

Ren looked down at the newborn who was only a little smaller than Ren thought she should be and couldn't help but smile, "I think so too. You did really good Charlotte."

"Wouldn't have done anything without Maggie and Sera." Charlotte looked down at her daughter, "They coached me through everything while Saddiq did the hard part."

"No, I'm pretty sure you did the hard part." Sera chucked.

"Yeah I agree with Sera on that one, hermana." Ren laughed.

There was a knock at the door, and she saw Negan standing there when she turned, "Borrow you for a bit Ren?"

She looked back at her friends and they nodded that she should go with him and she walked to the door and out into the hallway, "What's up?"

"Rick and Michonne want to talk to you." Negan said, "Everyone's had a lot of time to talk about it and they think that they've come up with something you might agree too."

"Might?" Ren asked.

"Yeah, but you don't have too. They decided you were right, you aren't a part of the charter, and that you want to do what's best for your people, so you can act how you want, and you all don't have to worry about being removed from Alexandria."

"Then I'm just going to kill them." Ren said simply.

"Just hear them out." Negan looked down at her then put his hand on her shoulder, "Trust me okay?"

"Alright fine." She sighed the motioned for him to lead the way. Following him out they found Michonne and Rick both waiting on the front porch of the house. They looked at Ren and she nodded, "I'll hear the offer."

"We'll give you training, weapons, and any help you want to release the girls still being held hostage." Rick told her, "But, we want to capture the two remaining men and give them a trial. We _all_ determine if they should in in jail or if they should die. And afterwards, whatever the decision, we help the girls to get back to normal, keep them together if they want to be kept together, that sort of thing."

Ren thought about it, it was a good deal, especially the weapons part. She looked up at him, "I'd have to discuss it with the others."

"Alright." Michonne said, "We understand that."

"I'll be back then." Ren said and headed back inside. When she got to the room, April had just joined with food for the new mom and they talked about the options.

"At this point, I think it would be best if we took that offer," Charlotte said, "I still can't walk yet and if they helped then you wouldn't need to wait for me to get better. Plus, all we have are scraps to use as weapons, if we give Sera an actual gun, we'd have the other girls out in a matter of minutes."

"And I want my sister back…" April said.

"Okay." Ren said then looked at Sera, "You good with the deal?"

"Are you?" Sera asked, "It might mean that Michael doesn't die."

Ren rubbed her eyes, "I know…"

"And are you okay with that?" Charlotte asked.

She looked from Charlotte to April, "If we get the others back with as little trouble possible and make sure they have help…then yeah I'm alright with that."

"Then I guess it's a deal." April smiled at her.

"Yeah." Ren said standing up and heading back out of the room to tell Rick and Michonne.

April stuck her head out of the door and called, "Hey Ren…Thanks."

"You're sister and the others…they're the most important part about this." Ren told her, "We'll get them back for sure now."

Walking outside she looked at Rick, Michonne, and her Uncle, "We take the deal. On one condition."

"What's that?" Michonne asked.

"When it comes time for their trial…those of us that want to can write a written statement of everything instead of having to tell it in front of everyone." Ren said.

"Of course." Michonne gave her a sad smile, "We should have offered that in the first place."

"Thought about it too late." Ren gave her a nod. "Now if you guy will excuse me."

"Yeah." Rick said and moved out of the way so she could get down the stairs of the house.

She made her way to the house they stayed in, hoping that he was there since she hadn't seen him anywhere else. Rushing up the stairs she saw the door to his room was open and she poked her head inside, her voice soft, "Daryl?"

There was no response. Moving out of that room she went to the bedroom she would have stayed in and he wasn't there either. The bathroom was empty too. She went back to his room and sat on the bed, he must not be there. Ren wasn't sure what to do. Getting up from the bed she left the house and walked around, maybe it would pass the time until he got back? She knew it was really her trying to find him despite knowing that if he wasn't in the house, on the porch smoking, or in a garage, he wasn't in Alexandria. Defeated she walked back to the house and sat back on the bed.

It was dark out at and she still hadn't moved, waiting for him to get back, knowing that this was only fair, he'd waited two days for her. She was staring at her toes gently balanced on the ground as she swung her heels back and forth when the door swung open. Startled, her head shot up and when she saw him there looking at her, just as wide eyed as she was, she stood up, swallowing hard. She'd had plenty of time to try and figure out what to say…but she hadn't.

Daryl took a step towards her, putting his crossbow down. She looked so scared and nervous, her eyes locked on to him, hands clutching each other still from her shock at the door opening. Her chest hurt, he looked so upset. His voice shook as he asked, "Why'd you leave?"

"Because I'm an idiot." She answered. Ren couldn't stop her legs from moving and soon her arms were wrapped around him, her head against his chest, "I'm a big fucking idiot that should know by now to believe you because I know you aren't lying to me despite the fact that I can't understand how you're telling the truth."

"Ren." He put his arms around her, hand going down her hair.

"I'm sorry." Her voice cracked as tears threatened to leave her eyes. "Sera said you were worried, that you lost my tracks, I'm sorry I should have let you come with me, but I was so mad, and hurt, and that with Charlotte in pain it just all got to me and I couldn't take it. I'm so sorry Daryl. It all took me back there and I couldn't do it. Not right then. I couldn't look at you, when you touched me it made me scared and that made me feel sick because I'm never scared of you." She was crying now, "And once I was gone and alone all I wanted was you back but the way I'd left made me even more scared that I'd hurt you and I didn't know what to do. I'm so fucking sorry."

He held her tight, "You don ever gotta be scared of me. I'll never hurt you. I was more worried than hurt, I wanted you back and safe more than anythin'."

"I'm so sorry. I should have turned around the second I wanted to be with you again." She looked up at him, "I'm so fucking stupid."

"Nah." He wiped away her tears, "Smartest person I know."

He gave her a small smile and she managed to return it, "I am sorry."

"I can tell." He told her, kissing her on the forehead. "I'm callin in that favor you owe me though."

"Anything." She told him.

"Don't leave me for that long again." He said.

"I still owe you then because that was already the plan." She smiled at him, "I don't ever want to leave you again."

Getting up on her toes she pressed her lips to his and he returned the kiss, holding her close. He'd been so damn worried about something happening while she was out there alone, he'd gone out looking every day in the area they knew the hunters were in, just to make sure that none of them would run into her. When he broke the kiss, he told her, "I can't find the dorm keys…"

She smirked, "Sera kinda stole them from you to get me back."

"She's good." He admitted. His thumb ran across her cheek and he saw how exhausted she looked, "Tired?"

Ren nodded, "I haven't really slept much since I left. Didn't have as comfy of a pillow."

"Let's lay down." He told her and she agreed, heading to get changed. Daryl already missed having her in his arms, but it was okay, because she would be back there soon, and he would be able to sleep well too.

* * *

 **A/N: Let me know what you guys think of everything! I'm loving your reviews! They make me want to write even faster haha**


	37. Chapter 37

She was finishing up cooking dinner when Daryl came into the living area after his shower. They'd been bringing new soil up to the roof all day by buckets and they were both ready for a break. Coming up behind her he looked over her shoulder, "Looks good."

"Thanks." She smiled proudly, cooking had never been her strongest skill, but it had always been enough for just her, then she got better for Daryl even though he wasn't picky at all about what he ate. She looked over her shoulder, "Charlotte is an actual cook, but I figured until they're settled, I would make the food."

"When they comin?" He asked.

"Well she wants to wait until the babies a little bit older before she leaves Saddiq. Sera however wants to start coming up here in between her training to start getting the third floor prepped. She said that's where they'll probably stay, then we'll start working on the fourth and fifth floors for the others once we get them. We might have to do some stuff to the first floor too." She started moving the meal onto plates, "We want everyone to have enough space to not feel like they're cramped up again."

"Sounds good." He nodded, "I'll help."

"Thanks." She kissed him on the cheek, "But you know that means we won't have the place to ourselves for much longer."

He looked down at her with a slight smile, "I'll start lookin for a bigger bed for your room."

"Okay." She said with a blush as he took the plates over to the small table for them to eat. They talked about what all needed to be done before and after Sera got there while they ate and when they were done, she took the plates over to the sink. Before she could start the water, he wrapped his arms around her waist and began kissing the back of her neck. She laughed, "What'cha doin?"

"Usin' the time we got left." He answered, his hand sliding under her shirt and up her stomach. Her breath shuddered as he pushed up her bra, fingers finding her nipple. His voice was velvet in her ear, "Wanna leave those?"

"Yes." She answered, her voice shaky. He turned her in his arms, connecting his mouth to hers as he took her thighs and picked her up, carrying her over to the bed area. She already had her fingers tangled in his hair and was holding him tight. Their tongues met as he laid her down on the mattresses and he put his weight on her. Ren loved feeling him on top of her, it made her feel as if she was secure, as if he was protecting her even then. Reaching around her, he unhooked her bra underneath her shirt, and she began working on the buttons of his.

Their kisses were heated, filled with want now and he only broke it to get her shirt and bra off. She pushed his shirt off as soon as hers was off and their kiss resumed, bodies pressed together, breaths coming out in pants. His hand found her breast again, massaging it and toying with the hard bud and she let out a moan. Daryl loved the sound of her moaning, and tonight he planed on hearing it a lot. He broke their kiss and headed down her chest, stopping at her other nipple, sucking and lapping at it. She was biting her lip from the pleasure and she could feel herself getting wet. Her fingers gripped at his head as he moved to the other mound, pleasure filled whines coming out of her throat.

He headed further south with his mouth, making it to the waist band of her shorts and he kissed and nipped at the skin. He would drive her insane if he stayed down there and didn't do anything about what was happening to her because of it. He licked across the skin, "You want it?"

"God _yes._ " She moaned and he slipped his fingers into her waist band and sat back on his heels, pulling them off of her. Ren could feel the red on her face as he looked down at her, naked below him and she turned her face to the side, not wanting to see him seeing her for the first time. She let out a slight squeak when she felt his lips against her inner thigh, open mouth kisses and his tongue trailing the skin, getting closer to her center. The anticipation built as she felt his mouth all around except in the area she desperately needed it to be. His hand trailed up the other thigh and he put it over his shoulder, feeling her skin under his fingertips as he got closer to his target.

She gasped loudly, her legs tensing in pleasure at the sensation of his mouth on her, tongue trailing all the way up her lips. Grabbing at the sheets next to her she couldn't stop the moans at his open mouth kisses, his tongue exploring, and his sucking filled every sensation. When he made it to her clit, she whined his name as he flicked his tongue over it before sucking on it, repeating this process. He was glad she was liking it as much as she'd been wanting it, and he couldn't stop himself with the damn noises she was making.

Her fingers found his head, tangling in his hair as he went to her entrance, tongue pushing into it. He was driving her insane and she wouldn't want it any other way. Daryl thought he'd be alright, but he was getting rock hard hearing her and tasting her, but that's not where his focus was, his focus was on his tongue inside of her, making her moan obscenities and his name. His mouth moved back to her clit and her noises got louder, he could feel her foot that was resting on his back tense up to a point as her back began to arch to him. She must be getting close.

Ren was so close, and she wanted it, she wanted it so bad. She begged him not to stop despite knowing that he wouldn't, and he instead picked up his pace causing pleasure filled whimpers to leave her. She cried out through a bit lip and he felt her pulse, but he didn't stop, he continued to lap at her until her orgasm was over. Kissing back up her body he could feel her catching her breath and she pulled him down for a long kiss before asking, "What do you want?"

"Hmm?" He asked before feeling her hand run over his dick through his pants, causing him to let out a slight hiss. She pushed him down on the bed as she now took charge, her lips on his neck, hand unbuttoning his pants. Feeling her lips anywhere other than his mouth might be enough to make him explode but she was already releasing him from the confines of his pants and stroking him with her hand.

On her knees next to him as he laid on his back, she kissed down his chest and Daryl cussed as her mouth made it to his crotch. Putting an arm around her he gripped her hip tight when he felt her tongue go up his shaft. Against her tongue he felt bigger than he did in her hand and she licked every part of him before flicking her tongue over his tip. Now it was time for him to moan and he did, her name coming out of his throat as he squeezed her hip when she took the head into her mouth, sucking on it. He'd had this before, but it felt nothing like how it felt when she did it, her hollowed cheeks making every part of his dick she took into his mouth feel like it was going to explode.

She had him all the way in her mouth, her hand making up for what she couldn't fit, and she moved up and down on him. His hand travelling up her back, gripping onto her shoulder as she blew him. Ren knew what it was he wanted to do, and after the orgasm he just gave her, she would let him have it. Reaching behind her she took the hand on her shoulder and put it on her head. She felt him tangle his hand in her hair, a slight pressure pushing her down more and she went, he didn't do to much, not needing more than she was giving him because that already was enough to make him want to cum, but feeling her head bobbing up and down on him in more than one way made him that much closer.

Pulling him out of her mouth she circled her tongue around his tip, kissing it with light sucks and he moaned at what her lips were doing to him. He was getting close and he couldn't even get as far as last time in his warning, but she knew what he was trying to tell her. She licked his shaft while stroking it and felt him throb in her hand. Daryl didn't care that she moved her face away slightly as he came onto his stomach with a moan.

He reached over and grabbed one of the many sheets on the floor and wiped himself off. Sitting down she pulled her knees into her chest to cover her nakedness as she said, "Sorry…I…I just don't like seeing…or having… _it_ inside me."

"It's fine." He sat up, cupping her face and giving her a kiss as he put himself back in his pants, "You didn have to do it."

"I wanted too." She told him, a blush coming over her face, "I wanted to give you what you gave me. Because I really enjoyed that."

He smiled giving her a longer kiss, pushing her back down on the bed so she wasn't curled up as he moved slightly on top of her, "Want me to do it again?"

"Huh?" She asked her face turning completely red.

"Want me to do it again?" He repeated, kissing her neck, "I'll do it all the time if you want."

"Daryl." She couldn't help but laugh. "You can't be serious."

"Mmhmm." His fingers glided up her thigh to her hips, "I liked hearin ya."

"Dear god." Ren covered her face. "I can't stand it when you get like this."

"Why?" He looked down at her.

"Because it's so damn sexy." She told him and he gave her a small grin moving more on top of her.

"Want me to?" Daryl licked in between her breasts.

"Well, now, yeah kinda." She tangled her fingers in his hair, "But if you wouldn't mind starting at the beginning?"

"Yes ma'am." He pressed his lips to hers.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry I know this one isn't all that long, but let me know what ya think! ;P**


	38. Chapter 38

"Look, hermana, I know I told you to find me a beater, but you really went all out with this one." Sera looked at her after examining under the hood. There was blood and guts in the gears, and it wouldn't even start for them to get it back.

"Thought you liked a challenge?" Ren shrugged.

"I do…and at least it'll give me something to do." Sera sighed.

"I take it you're enjoying training then?" She chuckled at her friend.

"I grew up in a rough neighborhood, it's more useful for April and Charlotte, who is just happy to be able to walk around again." Sera leaned on the fender, "I think it's good rehab for them, they don't have stuff to tinker with like we do."

"Yeah…speaking of rehab, hows Victoria doing?" Ren asked.

"Hasn't really said much apparently. Negan would know more, he works with her mostly, and Father Gabriel. She goes back and forth from being mad that she's not with them and crying about her mom not being with her. I don't really know what's going to happen with her." Sera was honest. Ren nodded at this and Sera now asked, "How's the search going for the dickbags?"

"We go out every other day to narrow down the radius." Ren told her, looking towards the gate, "I know both of us want to be out there every day but there's a lot that has to get done at the dorm before it's ready for you guys too."

"No, I understand." Sera looked at her then smirked, "You two have to use the time alone while you got it."

"You think we're gunna stop just because you're there?" Ren held back an amused look.

"Dois, I hope not." Sera smiled, "So you just going to stand here all day and distract me?"

"I could hand you tools?" Ren offered.

"Alright, hand me that wrench, then." Sera pointed over in the corner of the garage. As Ren went over to get it, she asked, "I was honestly surprised you didn't go with them today."

"And have to deal with Uncle Negan and Daryl. Last time was rough, and Daryl and I were just friends. No thank you. I'll just treat the bruises when they get home." She handed her friend the wrench as she laughed.

* * *

They'd cleared out the mattress store pretty easily, but it had more walkers in it than Daryl had thought it would. Negan looked around, "You know what size they should have?"

"Beds are twin, but Charlotte and Sera are plannin on sharing, so they should have bigger." Daryl told him. It was weird. The two of them being out together. They barely interacted in Alexandria. But he knew that he cared about the girls and their comfort, so he would deal with it.

"Will a full fit in those rooms?" Negan asked passing by one that had blood on it.

"Should." He answered.

"What about a queen?" Negan pointed at one that was clean, "Ren liked having space to stretch out."

She slept curled up in his arms every night now, so he didn't think she needed something that big, but it wasn't just that, "Too long for the space."

"Right." Negan looked, "Guess she'll just have to go with a full too." Daryl was really suspicious of how easily Negan was doing with this after how he'd been for a long time. They headed to the back where there were more mattresses that were all clean and Negan pulled one out slightly to feel it and he hated himself for asking, "Will a full work for the two of you?"

"What?" Daryl asked in complete shock.

"I'm not stupid." Negan turned to look at him, "She isn't the only that's going to be sleeping on this." Daryl didn't respond. Negan let out an irritated sigh and looked at the ground before locking his eyes onto Daryl, his face dead serious, "I'm not going to say shit about you and my niece. But what I am going to say is you hurt her, in _any_ way. I will kill you."

"The fuck." Daryl would never hurt her and to have Negan threatening him again, made him mad.

"Listen." Negans tone was commanding as Daryl glared at him, "I was there the day she was born. She was the flower girl in my wedding. I watched that girl grow up. I helped her brother move her out to California. I was there when her dad almost died and took care of her while her brother was dealing with him. She's the only blood I have left and while, yeah, I don't like you being anywhere near her, I won't stop her from being happy if that's what you make her. But I have every right to threaten the shit out of you if you put one toe out of line when it comes to her. If you do anything but respect the fucking hell out of her on this mattress, I'll fucking know, and I will beat every last breath out of you."

"Anyone hurts her. Imma be the one to kill 'em." Daryl told him, his tone low and threatening, the opposite of how Negan spoke, "So don't you fuckin try that shit with me."

"Her brother isn't here to do it. Someone had too." Negan pulled the mattress out more, "Lets grab a few of them. We don't know how many of them we're gonna find with the rest of those pricks and the more comfortable they are, the better they'll recover."

Daryl hated how fast this man could change his attitude. But he just wanted to get the stuff then take it back to Alexandria, where the next day Sera would go with him and Ren to the dorm and they would start preparing for more people to live there. Grabbing some frames for the mattresses they loaded up the truck two trucks they'd brought and were on their way.

* * *

Ren was standing outside of the door to where the cells were. The other three girls were there with her. Victoria had asked to talk to them. It'd been over a week since any of them had seen her, but Negan had told them that when he'd brought her dinner that she wanted to see them. Looking over her shoulder Sera nodded at her and she unlocked the door and the four of them walked in.

Victoria was sitting on the ground, looking up and out of the little window where there was light from the moon shining in. Her voice was soft, confused, and shook slightly, "You guys really didn't want it?"

"No." Ren said, her eyes trained on the girl.

"Then why did I?" She looked at them, her eyes shaking with tears.

"Did you?" April asked.

"Or did they make you think you did?" Charlotte followed up, "Told you that because you were…doing certain things or your body was…that you wanted it?"

"They said the same things to all of us too." Sera told her, "The only difference is that they didn't kill someone you love in front of you…they told you that they let her go."

"Is she really dead?" Victoria asked.

"We don't know for sure…but it is what they typically did." Ren told her.

Victoria's hand ghosted over her stomach as she curled in on herself, tears falling down her cheeks, "I need to know…I don't know what to do. It's all so muddled in my head."

"We know." Sera said, "We want to help you get to the truth, your truth."

"Whatever it may be." Ren followed. She knelt down to be level with the girl, "Victoria, look at me." The girl did, her eye connecting with Rens, "I'm sorry for what I said…how I said it that day at the meeting."

"You are?" Victoria scooted closer to her.

Ren gave her a small smile, "Yeah, I am. It wasn't right of me to treat you-"

Victoria lunged at her through the bars, the underwire of her bra having been sharpened, aiming for her neck. Ren dodged it, the wire scratching her shoulder, her hand grabbing Victorias arm, slamming it against the bars and twisting it causing the girl to let out a cry. She dropped the wire and Ren let go of her arm. Victoria yelled, moving back to a corner of the cell, "Fucking bitch! You're a fucking liar and you won't fool me with that bullshit apology!"

"Nope." Ren stood back up, "That was a real apology, because I shouldn't have done that to you. And after we put Michael and Brad on trial, we'll go looking for the group you were with. See if your mom is back with them. Until then though, if you want to kill me you'll have to get better at hiding your weapons, having a balled up fist constantly is a dead giveaway."

She turned heading towards the door and the others followed her out. April looked at her shoulder as she locked the door, "Ren, are you alright? Is it deep?"

"I don't think so." She moved her sleeve down to look more at the scratch. "She's smart though."

"Yeah, as smart you apparently." Sera said.

"What do you mean?" April looked at them.

"Ren tried to do the same thing to Michael one day. After that we weren't allowed to wear bras anymore." Charlotte said.

"That's why?" April looked at Ren, "Geez, do you know how uncomfortable travelling was without one of those?"

"Sorry about that…" Ren looked at her, sheepishly.

"Whatever, I have one now." April sighed.

"The hell happened?" Negan and Daryl came over as they were heading back towards the road.

"Heard her scream." Daryl then noticed the tear and blood on Rens shirt, and he went up to her, "She attack you?"

"An attempt." Ren put her hand over his on her shoulder, "Just a literal scratch." Ren then looked to her uncle, "By the way, just remember that girls think of ways to make weapons out of things that you would never expect. So be careful of that."

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"She sharpened the underwire of her bra." Sera held up the skinny metal.

"Shit." Negan rubbed his beard, "Ren, I'm sorry, I thought she was getting better."

"Might be." Ren shrugged, "I just knew she had a weapon of some kind, but some of how she acted might have been real." She moved towards the street, Daryl going with her as she said, "I told her we'd find her group after it's all done, see if we can find her mom."

"Alright." Negan nodded and watched as the two of them headed to the house, the three girls also going to theirs.

"Sure your alright?" Daryl asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She smiled up at him and moved some hair from his face, "I'm with you, nothing else matters." He let out a slight scoffed laugh tried to look away, but she took his cheek and leaned up, giving him a quick kiss. Breaking the kiss, she told him, "Just because it's cheesy, doesn't make it any less true."

"Let's go clean that." He pulled her along.

* * *

 **A/N: Let me know what you guys think! Also I'm not sure if I'll be able to post tomorrow but I'll try to be back soon!**


	39. Chapter 39

Ren and Sera were on the third-floor cleaning while Daryl was on the second putting Ren's bed together and getting the old one out of the room after having already done Sera's. They were mostly working on making it not dusty and having clean air on the level.

"You know, you're not as bad of a cook as you said you were." Sera looked at her as she pried a window open, "It was very good."

"Thanks." Ren looked at her beating a blanket out of one of the open windows. "I'm trying to figure out how to be able to grow more crops though."

"We could always bring up soil and turn the entire roof into a planter instead of just having them in small ones?" Sera looked at her.

Ren stopped and thought about it, "That might actually work. We could create a pully system to bring more dirt up, have similar crops on each roof and-"

"I'm going to stop you right there, Brains. You figure out how to do it and I'll help."

"You're the one that came up with the idea." Ren laughed.

"That's what I'm good at. And execution. The in between. That's your thing." Sera looked at her with a smile as the window finally opened and fresh air rolled further into the room. "Well, that's all for today then isn't it hermana?"

"Seems like it." Ren looked at the space. "Let me go grab you some blankets and pillows for your bed."

"Alright." Sera said as Ren headed down the hallway to the stairs.

She walked past Daryl in her room, looking like he was almost done setting up her bed, and grabbed spare stuff from one of the rooms and took it back up to Sera. "Here you go."

"Thanks, I think I'm going to turn in for the night."

"Okay, see you in the morning." Ren said heading back towards the stairwell, "Oh!…nevermind."

"What?" Sera asked.

"Nothing." A blush went over Rens face and Sera raised an eyebrow at her, "Just let me know in the morning if you hear anything."

"Okay." Sera's face turned to an amused look, "Have a good night."

"Shut up." Ren yelled before going through the door. She went down the stairs back to Daryl who was getting off of the floor and sat down on the bed as she walked into the room. "Is it good?"

"Yeah." He answered.

She went up to him and put her hands on his shoulders, a leg between his, her other knee on the bed next to his hips. He put his hands on her waist as she smiled down at him, "Thanks."

He shrugged, it hadn't been to hard, harder than Seras had been, but that was only because Ren had stuff in her room he didn't want to knock over or break. Ren pushed hair away from his eyes as he looked up at her and she leaned down connecting her lips to his as she laced her arms around his shoulders. He pulled her body flush to his as he kissed her back, causing her to lean into him, her fingers running through his hair. Pulling away he kissed her lower stomach through her shirt and felt her skin tense in pleasure as he moved across the area. He asked, "What'd'ya want?"

Her stomach was in knots as her face flushed slightly. "You."

That wasn't her intended answer, but it wasn't a lie either. It really was what she wanted. Daryl looked up at her and he could tell by the look on her face what she meant by that, "You sure?"

"Yeah." She nodded, her fingers lightly scratching at the base of his skull. Her throat got tight for a moment, "Just…just-uh, don't…um…if you could pull out?"

He pulled her down for a tender kiss, "Of course. You want me to stop, I will. You want anythin, just let me know."

"I trust you." She gave him a soft smile before lifting her shirt over her head and tossing it on the ground. His hands slid up her back now as she kissed him again, her hands going under the collar of his shirt to feel the skin of his shoulders. One hand began unbuttoning his shirt as he unhooked her bra.

Daryl pulled her down to be sitting across his lap as the kiss got deeper and he leaned into her more, his hand going down her chest as she worked on his shirt. His thumb traced around her nipple and when she got his shirt undone, she pushed it off of him with his help. Now his mouth went to her chest and her fingers tightened on his head as her back arched to his mouth, her breath coming out heavy against the top of his head. She clutched him tight as he sucked at the sensitive flesh, moaning when his tongue flicked over it.

He'd wanted this, wanted her, for a lot longer than he cared to admit, and even after they got together, he still never expected it, never thought it would happen, and he would have been fine with that. But if she was willing to be with him like this, he was going to take his time, he was going to make sure she knew how much he wanted her, how much he appreciated how she trusted him with things like this, how much he loved her. Laying her down on the bed he kissed across her stomach as he undid her pants, paying extra attention to where her scars were. His hands slid down her legs as he slid the jeans from her and she loved it when he did that, when he felt her.

Moving back to her mouth he pressed his body against her, and she could feel him through his pants, her stomach went tight at the thought of where it would be soon. Her hand moved down his chest over his stomach to his pants and began working on his belt. Daryl could feel how nervous she was, her hand shaking slightly as it moved to the buttons and he kissed her deeper, distracting her for a moment with his tongue against hers.

Ren wrapped her arms around his waist as he kissed her, giving herself a second to collect herself before she returned to pushing his pants down over his backside. Daryl broke the kiss once she'd gotten the fabric as far down as she could and pulled his boots off and his pants off the rest of the way. Ren covered her chest slightly with her arms and when he looked back down at her he slid his hand into one of hers, thumb stroking the back of it, "You're beautiful."

She gave him a small smile and laugh, feeling stupid for being embarrassed about being exposed around him. Reaching up, she brought him back down to her, lips meeting and without his jeans on she could feel him even more against her. Bringing one of her legs up she hooked it on his hip before pushing on them to grind their hips together, causing a moan from both of them. She was nervous, but she wasn't scared, not when it came to him.

His mouth moved around her neck as his hand slid into her underwear, she was wet enough for him, but he didn't want to rush into it. She gasped, gripping at his shoulders as two fingers pushed into her, his thumb moving against her clit. Breathing out his name as he moved in and out of her, his fingers perfectly hitting her spot, she loved how good he was at this. It never took him long to bring her to the edge and she willingly went over it, clenching around his fingers, hands grasping his skin as she came with a moan.

Removing her underwear, he looked down at her, "You sure?"

"Yeah." She nodded, her eyes locked on his before he took his own off. Letting out a nervous breath she said, "Just…slowly?"

"Yeah." He told her, holding onto her thigh.

She felt him at her entrance and her chest went tight, her hand gripping at his side. He paused but she nodded her head, "It's okay."

With that reassurance he pushed into her, slowly feeling her warmth surround him. He closed his eyes as he concentrated, it had been a long time for him, but once he was all the way in he looked down at her, her eyes also closed, teeth holding her bottom lip, hands tight against him. Daryl moved hair away from her face, "Ren?"

It was like he filled up every inch of her perfectly. Her chest was tight, and her breath was shaky, but he felt amazing inside of her. Opening her eyes, she saw him looking down at her, worried. A smile formed on her face and she cupped his cheek, pulling him down to her lips. "I'm okay, because it's you."

Wrapping his arms around her, he started moving inside of her, slowly, as slowly as he kissed her. She was glad of his pace because she wanted to feel every second of him inside of her, to hold onto this moment, to never let it end.

As he felt her relax more, he held her hip, picking up his pace slightly, and she moaned into his mouth at his new rhythm. Kissing her jaw and down to her neck he buried his face there at how amazing she felt. His fingers squeezed the skin of her hip as she arched to him, allowing him in deeper. Her breaths and pants against his ear were replaced only for a moment by, "I love you."

It felt as if that hit him in the gut. He already knew he could never be without her, but in this moment, he knew he would die without her, "I love you too."

At some point, she knew she would want more, but at this moment, at this pace he was going, she enjoyed how every stroke hit her, getting her closer to her climax. Ren turned her head to him, her lips finding his, kissing him with a smile. His fingers tangled in her hair as they kissed, his other arm wrapped around her going lower, making her arch more to him. She let out a gasp that consisted of his name and he knew that was a gasp of pleasure.

Her hand clenched his shoulders as he now moved painfully slow, causing her to gasp with every thrust. The pressure inside of her was building up to it's max and she knew she was going to explode soon, "Daryl…I'm gonna cum."

He was close too, and he knew that her cumming around him would finish him off for sure. Reaching over he grabbed his discarded underwear and held onto it, focusing on making sure she finished first. Her grip on him got tight and she began to whine as he felt her starting to tighten around him. He held off as she pulsed around him, moaning his name as she came but the moment she was done, he pulled out, using his underwear to cover himself as he came into them.

They stayed there, catching their breath as he tossed the dirty fabric onto the ground now. He felt her fingers ghost over his neck, and he looked at her, her green eyes in a daze as they connected with his. Sitting up slightly to meet him she kissed him deep, "Thank you."

"For?" He was confused.

"For putting up with me." She looked down at the underwear.

He shook his head, moving to lay down on his side, taking her with him. Daryl ran his hand over the side of her face, "It ain't that hard of a thing to do. And I already told you I'd do anythin for you."

"Me too." She smiled at him.

"You okay?" he wanted to be sure just in case.

"Fantastic." She scooted closer to him, "I'll have something really good to dream about tonight."

He saw she was still using her arms to cover herself despite how close she was to him, "You wanna get dressed?"

She moved even closer, putting her head in the crook under his neck, an arm wrapping around him, as she kissed his chest, "I'll be okay."

Daryl reached over her and grabbed a nearby blanket, pulling it on top of them, covering them before wrapping his arms around her. She gave him a small smile, leaning up to kiss him. As she broke the kiss, she held back a smile, "Aren't you going to offer to do it again?"

He kissed her again then moved her head back to his chest, "Maybe in the mornin. Don wanna spoil ya."

"Too late." She whispered against his chest.

* * *

 **A/N: So, be sure to let me know what ya think... XD More stuff to come soon!**


	40. Chapter 40

Ren carried the basket of fabrics over to Sera, "So you're sure? You can't hear anything?"

"No." She laughed, taking the first blanket and putting it on the line to send out the window.

"Not even last night?"

"No, nothing." Sera then smirked, "Why what happened last night?"

"Just stuff." Ren tried not to blush.

"How many times?" Sera asked, a shit eating grin on her face.

Ren didn't look at her as she answered sheepishly "Four."

"Damn." Sera looked impressed, "That's a man who knows how to take care of his woman."

"You have no idea." Ren thought back to the night before, all the places his mouth had been, all the places his hands had gripped her, how she was soaked in sweat by the end, "I don't think I've came so much in my life until him."

"Mi mama, always said that was a perk of being with a man older than you." Sera took the next blanket, "They have plenty of experience."

"Shame then that Charlottes with someone only two years older than her then." Ren joked.

"Hey! I have experience because I have the same parts, alright." Sera side-eyed her.

"Oh, someone's defensive." She laughed.

The walkie in the corner of the room went off, "Ren."

Going over to it she picked it up, "Yeah?"

"I think I found 'em." Daryl said back.

* * *

Ren looked through the binoculars at the apartment building, waiting for some type of movement. Her blood went cold when she saw him pass by the window, "Yeah…that was Michael."

She handed the binoculars to Sera who then looked, "I wonder if that's the only floor their on?"

"Don know." Daryl said as they looked at the building. He'd wanted to go in the second he saw them, go in and kill the two of them despite Rens deal with Rick, but he'd wanted to be sure it was them and not another group of survivors. He looked at her, "What'd'ya wanna do?"

He saw her jaw go tight and she swallowed hard, "We go tell the others."

* * *

Arriving in Alexandria they relayed to the others that they'd found them. They sent word to Hilltop because Maggie wanted to help and then Rick looked at her, "Alright Ren, what's the plan?"

"What?" She was a little surprised.

"You call the shots on this one, we don't know these guys, you do." Rick told her.

"Um…" She'd never really planned group things like this. It'd always just been her, half making things up as she went along. Trying to sound confident she told them a plan, "So I think that Michonne, Maggie, Charlotte, and April should all go with Uncle Negan and work on getting the girls out, we don't know what condition they might be in and we know there are at least four of them, but with the addition of Victoria, we know there might be more. The main goal…The main goal is to get them out. Rick, you Daryl, me and Sera will all work on capturing and containing Brad and Michael, and most importantly keeping them away from the girls. They've already been through enough, they don't need to deal with their taunting."

"What about me?" Aaron walked up to them, giving her a supportive smile.

Ren smiled back, "You want to help with protecting the girls?"

"Yeah, that sounds good." He nodded.

"What do you guys think?" Ren asked the other girls.

"Sounds good." Sera nodded, "Charlotte wants to stay here with Becca though."

"Then I guess it's good that we have Aaron." Ren told her.

"We'll spend tonight preparing and waiting for those from Hilltop to arrive. Then tomorrow morning, we'll head out." Rick looked at Ren and she nodded.

They all broke from the meeting and as Ren walked her Uncle caught up with her, "You did good with that kid."

"Did I?" She looked up at him, "Game plans were never really my thing."

"You were never really given the opportunity to make them." He told her, "Guess you take after me in that respect though. You're going to be a good leader for those girls."

"I've never been a leader before." Ren let out a half laugh, "I don't think I'd be good at it at all."

"That's because you don't see how amazing you are." Negan smiled at her, "You care about them. All of them, even Victoria. That's what it takes to be a good leader. I'd know, because I fucked that part up."

"I just…I don't want to screw up. It's a lot of pressure. I've been on my own for so long." She sighed.

"You have." He agreed, "Yet you still walked to the cell to check on her." Ren realized that that is where she'd walked too and he pulled the key out of his pocket, "I'll wait out here just in case."

"Okay." She took the key from him and went inside. Moving in front of the cell she saw Victoria leaning over a bucket throwing up, "Be grateful, when I had morning sickness all three times, I was puking in the same bucket I went to the bathroom in."

"Oh, that's gross." Victoria gagged again.

"Tell me about it." Ren couldn't help but smile at the girl gulping down water.

"What do you want?" The girl looked at her, her face uncaring with the exhaustion of having just thrown up on it.

"Just wanted to let you know that after tomorrow you'll have some company." Ren told her, "We're going to be capturing Brad and Michael and they're going to be in their own cells."

"You aren't just going to kill them?" She rolled her eyes.

"No." Ren told her, "Because I decided that getting all of the girls they've hurt out safely is more important than killing them. So even if after their trial it's decided that they will spend the rest of their lives in here, then so be it. As long as the others are free."

Victoria was silent, then wiped her mouth, sitting back away from the puke bucket, "What about me?"

"That's up to you." Ren said, "I wasn't lying when I said we'd find your group. And when we do you can decide to go with them, or stay in this cell, or try to join one of the communities here, or even something different than that. It's entirely up to you." Victoria just looked at her, not quite sure what to say. Ren turned to leave, "I'll have them bring you something with mint. My friend Becca said that it helped her sister with morning sickness."

And with that she was out the door. Negan took the keys back from her, "Well she didn't try to attack you this time."

"Yeah, that's an improvement." Ren said heading for her house, "Make sure to get her something for the morning sickness and that she has plenty of water."

"Alright." Negan smiled as she walked away.

* * *

After brushing her teeth, she walked into the room to see Daryl sitting on the bed, "You okay?"

He nodded, chewing on his lip slightly, "You ready?"

"Yeah." She sat down next to him. Putting her hand on his she lowered her head under his so she could look at him, "Are you?"

He looked at her, "Jus don like the idea of them bein able to hurt you again."

"They won't though." She smiled at him, "Because everyone else will be there, and you'll be there with me."

"Yeah." He said, pulling her head to him as he gave her a kiss on the forehead, "I won't let anythin happen to ya."

"I know you won't." Ren kissed him, her smile growing wider as her arms wrapped around him. Keeping her forehead against him, her voice was an almost whisper, "It's all over tomorrow."

"Mmhmm." His hand ran up and down her back.

"I can't even imagine what it'll be like…to not have to hide, to not be scared outside." She could feel the flutters of excitement in her stomach, "We can go further out and look for things since travelling at night won't be a problem anymore. We can actually build a fence around the campus, so munchers don't come in. Oh! And you can teach me how to hunt!"

"Whatever you want, we'll do it." He couldn't help but smile at how happy she was as he moved a lock of hair behind her ear. Daryl would do anything with her as long as she kept that smile on. He gave her a kiss, "C'mon, you need to sleep before tomorrow."

"Yeah probably." She couldn't help her smile as she laid down in the bed, pulling him down with her, and wrapping his arms around her. He pulled her tight to him, nuzzling to her shoulder before placing a kiss there as she tried to fall asleep.

Laying there for a few hours she was to nervous about the day to come to be able to actually sleep and so she carefully climbed out of his grasp and headed out of the room. Daryl had felt her get up and go, but figured she was just going to the bathroom. When she didn't return for what seemed like a very long time, he rolled out of the bed to find her. She wasn't in the bathroom, so he started down the stairs and saw the kitchen light on. Ren was at the island with paper and a pencil. Walking over to her he asked, "What're you doin?"

"Writing my statement down for the trial." She looked up at him, "I couldn't sleep knowing that tomorrow it was all going to be over…then I realized that it wouldn't be as long as I had this to do."

"So you're writin it in the middle of the night?" He asked.

"Yeah. This way when we capture them, it's really over. I don't have to worry about anything having to deal with them again." She smiled, "It'll all be forward for me from there. For the both of us."

The corner of his lips turned up and he gave her a slight nod, "Yeah."

"I…I don't know exactly what all to write though." She looked down at the half a page she had.

"Everythin you want to." He rubbed her back, "Whatever you're comfortable with."

She nodded looking down at the sheet, "Yeah and writing it is a lot easier than saying it for some reason."

He was glad she was able to do this without it hurting her as much, he was glad she was able to move on from it. "You want me to stay down here?"

"If you want to go back to bed you can." She looked back up at him, "Or you can stay, it's whatever you want."

"I'll stay." He sat down next to her, his hand resting on her forearm.

Ren looked at him with a smile before sliding her hand down and taking his hand, interlacing their fingers. Her thumb ran over the back of his hand as she began writing again.

* * *

 **A/N: So I decided to take a lil break and realized...I kinda forgot to tell you guys. I'M SO SORRY! But I'm back after some much needed rest! Let me know what you guys think about them having found the hunters!**


	41. Chapter 41

They were looking in the doors of the apartment building and the first floor was filled with munchers. Rick looked up at the building, "There has to be a way in other than this."

"Yeah, Kevin and Victoria wouldn't have been able to leave otherwise." Ren agreed with him. She looked to either side of the building, "We should check around and see if there's another way in. I don't want them to hear us killing all of the munchers and then do something to the girls."

"Alright." Rick said, "We stay together until we find the girls, then those responsible for them will get them out and the rest of us will capture the two men and then we'll go home."

"Sounds good to me." Sera replied as they started to walk around the building.

They checked any door they came across and when one opened Rick took the handle and Daryl moved to where he would be able to see inside when it opened, his bow ready. Slowly Rick opened the door and pulled it open, revealing an empty emergency exit to the building. He held the door open and everyone went inside. Ren whispered, "We saw Michael on the sixth floor, but the others might be on another."

"First floors just walkers." Daryl said looking through the glass of the door that lead down the hallway. "Must use it as a deterrent for people."

"Then you'd think they'd have someway to lock this door." Aaron looked back at where they came in.

"They might have left it open for when the other two came back." April offered an explanation and he nodded agreeing with it.

"Alright we go floor by floor, checking all the rooms until we get to the sixth, if we haven't found anything by then we go in guns ready." Rick looked at everyone, "We want the two men alive, but if they're going to kill us, kill them."

"Not a problem for me." Sera pulled out her gun.

Making their way up the stairs they began checking the second floor, opening every door they could and knocking on and trying to hear inside the ones that they couldn't. They attempted to be as quiet as they could while moving through the building but when they got to the third floor a large barricade was pushed down from behind the door that led into the hallway.

"Is someone there?" They heard a feint womans voice yell from the floor above them.

"Well they know we're here now." Negan said.

"Yes! We're here to help you!" Michonne yelled out.

"Oh, thank god!" Another voice yelled back.

"Might as well head up there since there's no response from anyone on this floor." Ren said and they all turned around heading up the stairs again with more speed in their steps.

They called out to the women as they went down the hallway and Rick told them to back away from the door when they found it. When he shot through the door knob and they all saw inside they realized the girls couldn't have moved even if they wanted. There were six of them cuffed to bars that had been drilled into the walls, wearing rags for clothes that barely covered them.

"Holy fucking shit this is sick." Negan said looking at all of them.

"Where are they?" Ren asked the girls.

"Two floors up." One answered, shaking with tears already.

"Thanks Nessa." Sera looked at her.

"No, thank you guys." She gave them a weak smile back.

"You guys go-" Michonne said but was cut off from her next statement.

"Brittany?" April looked around.

"She's not here?" Maggie asked.

"She's upstairs." One of the other girls said.

"We'll get her." Ren assured April.

"I know you will." April told her, her face hardening, "I got this."

Ren and Sera nodded as they went out of the room with Rick and Daryl as the others began working on getting the cuffs off the girls. Returning to the stairwell they heard the door to the fourth floor open and close and they ran for it going through it to see Brad running down the hallway. They all pulled up their weapons and Rick yelled for him to stop. The man did and put his hands up as he turned around, "Serenity, nice to see you again."

Daryl grew angry at him even speaking her name and took a step closer, his bow trained on the man. Rick gave him a look before looking back at the guy, "You're coming with us."

"Why?" Brad laughed, "What'd we do to you, old man?"

"It's not about what you did to me, it's what you did to those girls locked in that room downstairs." Rick told him. "And to the ones behind me right now."

"So what? You're going to kill me?" He asked.

"Just give me a reason." Daryl growled and Ren and Sera were with him on it. They were all just waiting for him to do something.

"You want a reason? Okay." Brad showed a square lighter in his hand and flicked it on before tossing it into the room next to him, "Do you think the fire will get to them before all the cuffs are off?"

The room went up in flames as if they'd had gasoline in the room. Ren realized, "Shit! That's the room above where the others were!"

"Old building, dry winter…how long do you think it'll last?" Brad smirked.

"Get on the ground!" Rick yelled.

"Make me."

Sera shot him in the leg, "We don't have time for this. Ren I'm going to help the others. You fuck Michaels day up and get Brittany. See you outside?"

"You bet your ass." Ren said as the fire began to spread rapidly up the walls and through the rooms next to it. She began walking over to Brad but Rick stopped her.

"I'll handle him, you two go do what you have to do." Rick told her, "Find Aprils sister no matter what."

"Yeah." Daryl said and the two of them ran down the hallway away from the side now with flames licking up the walls and ceiling. Smoke billowed into the stair well as they opened the door and when they got to the next floor it was already on fire. Ren started to run into the flaming hallway, but Daryl grabbed her arm, "You really think they're still here?"

"We have to look. I'm not leaving with out her." Ren told him.

"Alright." He motioned for her to lead as they both crouched down to try and be below the smoke. When they made it to the central part of the hallway where broken down elevators were the flames had surrounded them.

"They must have had this planned just in case." Ren told him covering her face with her arm, "There's no way that what Brad did could have caused all this."

"They want to bring the building down with us in it." Daryl agreed.

"Even if they go down too." Ren said, "Come on, they have to be somewhere."

Ren was calling Brittanys name as they made their way to the other side of the building and when they broke through to that hallway, they breathed in what clean air was available and made their way up it despite the heat saying that the flames would soon be in there.

Getting to the next floor when Daryl grabbed the handle he hissed, pulling his hand away, "Shit!"

"What?" She said and took his hand seeing the burns on it, the fire must already be raging on this floor for the handle to already be this hot. She looked up at him, "You don't have to go with me."

"No." He looked at her.

"I don't want to risk you just to get him." Ren looked up at him, "You can go help the others."

"I ain't leavin you." He told her and she nodded taking one of her Kamas and hooking it on the handle, pulling it down and swinging the door open to a blaze. She went through first and as he went to follow her one of the doors to the room burnt off its hinges and fell in between them, blocking him from following her further. "I'll go back down and meet you on the other side."

Ren knew he should just get out of the building, if he tried to make it back through the floor below them then he wouldn't make it, but she knew he would never agree to leaving her. She nodded "Alright."

She called out Brittanys name even more, her mouth covered as much as possible, the smoke and heat stinging her eyes as she moved through the hallway. Making it to where the elevators were, she avoided fire where she could but was feeling the heat through her boots. But then she heard it over the raging sounds of the flames. Banging on a door. Running to it she yelled for the person to move back and despite the flames on it she kicked the door down.

"Help me!" The girl screamed coming out into the hallway filled with more smoke and flames than the room she had been in.

"Are you Brittany?" Ren asked taking off her jacket to cover the bruised girl who was in shorts and only her bra. The girl nodded, "Here take this and cover your mouth, your sister is downstairs."

Ren bent Brittany down to where she was lower than most of the smoke despite it filling up the hallway and they made their way to towards the stairwell. She had almost given up on Michael until a gunshot went off past them. Ren turned and saw him standing in central area, gun trained on them.

He called out, "You take one more step with her and she dies."

"Go. Find April or a man named Daryl, they'll help you." Ren told her and the girl hesitated until Ren gave her a push and she ran to the stairwell.

* * *

Daryl had no choice but to go down the stairs to the exit, the flames having blocked off every path he had to get to Ren. He ran around to the other side and found the others, soot covering them and breathing fresh air, but no Ren. Busting from the door came a skinny girl who was wearing Ren's leather jacket over pretty much nothing.

"Brittany!" April yelled and ran to her sister, wrapping her in her arms.

"Ren?" Daryl went up to the two embracing girls and April then looked to her sister to as Daryl asked, "Where is she?"

"Michael…he had a gun, he told her to stop or he'd kill me." She looked back inside where they could see smoke and flames pouring out of the windows of the majority of the building now.

* * *

 **A/N: Man things just keep heating up even more in this story! God I hate myself some days for the puns I think of XD. Let me know what you guys think!**


	42. Chapter 42

"You ended most of us with fire. I thought that'd be a fitting way for you to go out too. I'd been waiting for you to find us for a while." Michael yelled down the hall as the flames got closer to both of them. "Did you kill my brother quick?"

"I didn't kill him." She called out, her lungs starting to burn, "But he is dead."

Michael nodded, angry now, "God I want to shoot you but I want you to know what it's like to burn, just like he did. Those marks you left on him…they haunted him every fucking day!"

"Just like the ones you all left on me!" Ren yelled walking towards him. If she was going to die, it wasn't going to be standing there having a damn conversation. Pulling out her gun she aimed it back at him as she made her way to him.

"What marks?" Michael laughed, "Bruises don't leave scars, and only Timothy gave you one."

"Broken bones, busted lips, and everything you did on the inside." Her voice shook with fury, "I'd blow you all sky high again if I could."

"Well you aren't going to get the chance." He looked at her as she kept getting closer to him. "Because you're going to die here. With me, isn't that poetic?"

"Nah." She told him, the heat burning her skin, flames getting within inches of her, "I'm not dying today. Whether you do or not is up to you."

"Oh really?" He watched her as they now circled each other in the middle of the floor.

"Yeah, at one point I would have been fine going out like this. Taking you with me. Wouldn't have bothered me at all." She said, looking for a way out of the building. She had two options, a shooting a window out and hoping for the best with a jump or sliding down the one elevator shaft that had the doors open. "But you see, I found something to live for. And I'm not letting you take that away from me again."

Daryl had taught her well enough and she shot Michael in the hand, making his gun fly out of it and then she shot out the window in front of her. Michael ran for her as she ran out the window, "Serenity! You're staying here with me!"

"Fuck you, asshole!" She pulled out her Kamas and as he grabbed her around the waist, she swung at him getting him in the shoulder. He let go of her and she ran, jumping on the window ledge then jumping out, aiming for the fire escape of the building next to her that she hoped she had enough momentum to get too.

* * *

Daryl was being held back by Rick and Michonne as Negan stared up at the burning building his niece was in…the one they just heard gunshots from. He needed to go back in. He needed to get to her. He needed to make sure she got out. That the asshole hadn't shot her. He needed to make sure she was alive.

"She's okay." Sera said, mostly trying to convince herself, "She said she would see me outside. She's kept that promise so far."

"Sera-" April started but the girl spun on her.

"NO!" She yelled, "I'm not going to believe it. Not until I see her body. I'm not going back…I'm can't go back and tell Charlotte that…I can't not have her here…I can't see him look like this." She pointed to Daryl who was staring up at the flames with wide eyes filled with tears, "I refuse to do any of it April. She's not dead. She can't be. She's would have refused to die."

"Doesn't matter. He still would have killed her." Brad said.

"Shut up!" Daryl spun on him grabbing him by the shirt, "I know who you are! You're the asshole that stabbed me! Shut the fuck up right now before I shut you up again!"

"Wow, you her dad or something?" Brad asked him.

"Can I beat the fucking shit out of him?" Negan asked Rick, "Please let me beat the fucking shit out of him."

"Man, you old dudes need to learn your capabilities, because none of you have any type of a chance with her." Brad let out a chuckle.

Sera pulled out her knife and put it between his legs while Daryl held him, "You don't know what you're talking about gilipollas, so I'd shut the fuck up before we all do something you'll regret."

"Why haven't you already? Come on just blow my fucking brains out already." Brad rolled his eyes.

"No." April said, "Ren made a deal. And that deal was for you to stand trial for what you've done. We're going to uphold that deal. Fucker."

"Awe, honoring your lost comrade?" He teased, "How sentimental. I thought she wasn't dead until you saw the body. I can tell you with how quick that building went up, she's gone for sure."

"SHUT UP!" Daryl threw him to the ground. The man who had his hands tied behind his back was unable to do anything to defend himself as Daryl began hitting him. No one tried to stop him except for Michonne and Rick, but his anger was to much for them as the man began to bleed.

"Stop!" Hands were on his shoulders from the front as he got pushed away and the hair pushed from his face. His teary eyes were met by concerned green ones that were surrounded by reddened skin. Ren told him, "He's not worth it."

Wrapping his arms around her he felt the heat radiating from her body. She didn't care about the pain from his facial hair scratching against her neck as he held her tight, she was just happy to be in his arms, thinking for a moment that she would never feel this again. He muttered against her skin, "You okay?"

"Yeah." She told him, and she wasn't lying. She felt better than she had in years. Yeah, her skin was burnt from the heat and her eyes were sore and her chest hurt a bit, but she truly felt amazing. It was over. Pulling away from him she asked, "Did everyone make it out?"

"Everyone got out." Sera smile at her.

Standing up she went over to where everyone was, not caring about Brad on the ground covered in his own blood. April rushed over to her and embraced her, "Thank you. Thank you so much for finding her."

"She was the one beating on the door." Ren smiled.

"What…What's going to happen to us now?" Nessa asked.

"We're going to take care of you." Ren said looking to Rick, and he nodded with a smile, "We have doctors who can help you get better. And if you want to stay with us in one of our communities you can, or if you want to try to find your people again, we'll help you. Whatever you want, we'll help you with."

"Thank you." One girl stepped forward, "All of you."

The others began chiming in with their thanks.

"Oh this is just disgusting." Brad said finally sitting up, "Just go ahead and kill me already."

Ren looked from him to Rick and said, "You know, I'm beginning to understand what you were talking about with the imprisonment thing…maybe a life sentence would be good for him since he seems really eager to die instead."

"We'll let Gabriel have some chats with him." Rick nodded with a smirk.

"We need to get these girls somewhere safe." Maggie stepped forward, "See a doctor, you to Ren."

"Yeah that looks like a worse burn than the one you got at the beach the summer before you left." Negan told her, "C'mon kid."

She nodded and they all began making their way back to the cars. Rick and Michonne hoisted Brad up and drug him along. Negan put his arm around Ren as they walked, her gingerly putting pressure on her feet from how much they hurt from the fire. She kept her other hand in Daryls though, not wanting to let either of them go just yet.

* * *

Daryl walked into the room and saw Ren looking through the drawers, "Whatcha lookin for?"

"Something really loose." She answered, "It's starting to sting a lot. I'm scared to even take these clothes off."

"Saddiq gave me this for ya." He held up a jar of aloe.

"That looks heavenly." She admitted with a smile. Settling with a pair of shorts and a tank top that she kept in Alexandria to sleep in, she carefully began to maneuver out of her shirt.

Daryl saw her struggling and came over to help, "Lift your arms."

Doing what he said, she did, and he carefully slid it off of her and he saw the redness was all over her skin as she took her pants off. The flames had gotten closer than he thought. Taking her hand, he took her to sit down on the bed and he sat behind her, opening the jar he dipped his fingers in and put the salve to the skin on her back. She gasped and he stopped, "Does it hurt?"

"A little?" She answered, "But in a relieving way?"

"Alright." He gently moved his hands over her skin rubbing it into the areas she wouldn't be able to reach. He asked, "How's your eyes?"

"Feeling better. I think after some sleep I'll be fine." She told him, "When you saw Saddiq, did he say how the girls were?"

"I know your worried about them." He started.

"But?" She waited for it.

"Can you worry about yourself for just tonight?" He asked, his voice gentle as his hand worked on her side, no longer caring what she could reach herself, "They're safe, you almost died. How's your breathin? Your throat? What about your feet?"

"Alright, I get it." She smiled. He was right. They were all safe. Brad was locked up. Michael was dead. And most importantly, they were together. Leaning into him he wrapped an arm around her, rubbing the aloe into her stomach. He put his chin on her shoulder after her gave it a kiss and she grimaced leaning into him. Leaning her head down to look at him she smirked, "Daryl, I love you, but you are either not allowed to do that or you're going to have to shave."

"Did I hurt you?" He picked his face up.

"Your stubble stings a little." She told him as he looked at her. He nodded but before he moved away, she put her hand on his cheek pulling him in for a long kiss. Holding her tight, he made sure not to hurt her, but he had to have her close to him. When they broke their faces didn't move away from each other as her fingers toyed with his hair, them both relaxed into each other.

His voice shook, "I thought I'd lost you."

"I told you I never wanted to leave you again." She whispered, "Nothing would ever stop me from getting back to you. Not a fire, not a douchebag with a gun. I'll always come back to you."

"I'll always come after you." He told her.

She smiled on his lips, "I heard Michonne and Rick had to hold you back. I would have hated it if you had though."

"Don care." He said, "Nothin would stop me from gettin to you."

"I know." She gave him another kiss. When she broke, she put her head on his shoulder and leaned more into him, "Are you going to finish with the aloe or what?"

"Alright." He couldn't help but smile, "Then we'll see what else needs to be taken care of."

"Deal." She closed her eyes as he hands worked on her chest and neck now.

* * *

 **A/N: Woo! The hunters are all dealt with! Or are they? *insert eyebrow wiggle* Leave me a review with what you guys think!**


	43. Chapter 43

Daryl was on his way to the dorm. It'd been three months since the rescue and Sera and Charlotte had moved in to their space with the baby. April and Brittany were making the transfer there too, not wanting to be apart from each other. The other girls were recovering well, even Victoria. They had found only one of the groups that one of three of the girls had belonged too, but they weren't going to stop until they were told to by them. Brads trial had been underway, and Ren, Sera, and Charlotte didn't go to it at all, April only went for her sister. They were all ready to move on, but all of them wanted justice. Daryl knew that Ren wanted the man to have the opposite of what he wanted, so if he wanted to die, she wanted him alive. He'd been there for two weeks helping with the trial while Ren stayed at the dorm, making it live-able for them plus the four that had been taken on the roads and had no group to search for.

But everyone in Alexandria wanted to talk to her, so he had come to bring her there. He pulled the bike up to the front of the dorm and saw Sera and Charlotte outside. Charlotte was bouncing the baby in her arms and Sera was putting dirt into a large tub. She stood and pointed, "She's in the library over there."

"Thanks." He responded sitting the bike up and starting his walk over there.

Charlotte looked at her, "Should we have warned him?"

"Nah, they're still in the honeymoon phase, let him enjoy the surprise." Sera smirked.

He walked into the four-story building and didn't see her, "Ren?!"

"Up here!" He heard her call back from the second floor. Making his way up the stairs to where he heard her his stomach dropped as she came into view. She was up on a ladder looking at a book on the shelf, her hair falling down over her shoulders, and she was wearing the white dress. It went close to her mid-thigh, but when she reached up for another book it went higher. He wasn't used to seeing her legs unless they were wrapped around him in some way, and they hadn't been for two weeks. Smiling at the book she found she began climbing down, "Sorry, I didn't know you were coming today, or I'd have been at the dorm."

"It's alright." He tried to keep his voice steady, the straps on her shoulders revealing that she wasn't wearing a bra under the dress, "What'cha lookin for?"

"Hydroelectricity." She told him holding up the book and walking to a table against the wall with a small stack of books already on it. Ignoring the way he was eying her, she continued, despite wanting to push him against the wall, "Theres a river not to far away from here and I figured it would take some strain off of the solar panels if we have a second source of power since the others are planning on coming here once the trial is over. And if we get it figured out here, we can also set something up in Oceanside."

"Sounds good." He was really trying not to just stare at her like he wanted to devour her.

"What's wrong?" She looked up at him.

"Huh?" He asked.

"You're looking at me weird." She tried not to blush, knowing exactly why he was looking at her like that.

He pointed at the dress, "Thought you said there wasn't a reason to wear it."

"Well one came up." Ren looked back at the book, "I've kinda been forgetting to do my laundry since we've been so busy here and so April got mad and stole all of my clothes to wash them. This was the only thing left."

"Mmm." He responded.

"Why?" She tried to hide her smile from him.

"Just wonderin." Daryl moved to the table to look at the book over her shoulder, he'd come to take her back to Alexandria, and he didn't want to get disturbed by someone walking in on them.

"I missed you too ya know." She looked up at him. Turning to lean her back on the table, she scooted next to him, her arm snaking around his waist. Her stomach went tight, and she felt a heat growing as his piercing blue eyes stared back at her, filled with want. "And it wasn't just your personality."

He wanted to throw her onto the table and have her every way possible as she looked up at him through her lashes, lips slightly parted in a smile. If he'd known that being free from those assholes would have made her more comfortable in this way too, he'd have hunted and killed them all the moment he found out about them, because she'd really been opening up a lot more with what she liked and what she wanted, and he loved it. His fingers ghosted up her arm and he could feel her shiver, "You can't wear this no more."

"Why not?" She smirked up at him, "Like it too much?"

"Nah, just don want no one else to like it." He told her.

"Just for you then." She said before moving his hand to her leg and sliding it up her dress, "Quick access."

This isn't why he came here. His throat was tight, feeling her panties under his fingers, "Ren…"

"Yes?" She asked him, moving to slide between him and the table now, her hands toying with his collar.

"They want you to come to Alexandria." He told her, closing his eyes, trying not to focus on how she felt against him. He might have to take her back to her room and delay the trip to Alexandria.

"That's fine." She ran her hand down his chest, her lips just millimeters from his, "But right now, I want you."

His fingers tightened on her skin, "We shouldn't the others might-"

"The others haven't stepped one foot in here since they got here." She told him, "But if you don't want too. I can wait." Ren moved away from him, "It's your fault though. You shouldn't have looked at me as if I was your next meal, and you thought of showering too for some reason."

He took her wrist, keeping her from moving away any further. "You sure no one will see?"

"So that's what you're worried about?" She smiled, "Don't worry, this is for your eyes only."

He was still eyeing her, and she knew that if it had been detrimental that they went back to Alexandria this moment, he would wait until that night and they'd already be leaving. But the way he was planted to the spot he was in told her it was more about not wanting to be too rough with her. This had been something that had been building since the rescue, as they got more used to each other, but he always held back slightly, she could tell, she knew he didn't want to hurt her, that that's not what he was going to do, he was just afraid of her going back to a time when it wasn't him. Helping to give him the extra push he needed she moved her hand to her hip under the dress and pulled her panties off, "If you don't stop looking at me like that or do something about it, I'm going to take the dress off too."

Daryl pulled her into him, back to her spot between him and the table. Alexandria could wait and this was quicker than a trip to her room. His lips were on hers, a fierce kiss as his fingers went through her hair. She smiled as their tongues met, his hips grinding into hers. Ren could already feel him hard against her, and she wanted more than just that. She'd had him almost every night for a month and to quit cold turkey for two weeks had been brutal, apparently for him too.

His lips went down her jaw and around her neck as she worked on getting the buttons to his pants undone. Once they were, she pushed them down enough to free him from them and he took over, lifting her dress enough to slide himself against her. She moaned, feeling him run against her clit with his head. He was surprised at how wet she was already, wet enough for him, but he was enjoying her shaky breaths against his cheek and how she gripped at his shoulder blades as he ran his length along her folds. Plus, she had done a decent amount of teasing to him, it was only fair.

"Daryl Dixon I swear to god if you don't fuck me righ-" She was cut off by him thrusting inside of her making her gasp loudly. As he began thrusting, he took her thigh in his hand, hiking it up over his hip, allowing him to get deeper into her. She clung to him as he moved in her, enjoying every inch of him. He put his head on her shoulder and she knew what he was doing. He was controlling himself not to do too much. "It's okay. You won't hurt me."

"Ren." He didn't want to chance it.

"Please." Her voice was desperate, fingers gripping the back of his neck. She needed him at this point, and she wasn't below begging for him.

He couldn't say no to her, he had said anything she wanted, and since it was this, he'd gladly give it to her. His mouth covered hers again, heated as he thrust faster into her, the pace closer to what they both wanted. He gripped her thigh tightly, keeping her at the angle he wanted, and she moaned as he hit deep inside of her. Moving a hand up her back, he pulled one of the straps of her dress down making the fabric uncover her chest.

She was breathing in pants as his mouth went to her breast, lips encasing her sensitive skin, tongue lapping and sucking at the bud. Her back arched to him, and he hit her g-spot more now making her let out a pleasure filled whine through a bit lip. She was completely surrounded by him and that's the way she loved it. She could tell that it was her she wanted, that it was about her just as much as it was about him, and that's what made her want him even more. Ren was getting close, and with what air she had in her lungs she managed, "Don't stop."

Daryl didn't plan on it. He could feel her grip on him growing tighter and he knew she was close. Feeling her start to tighten around him he moved faster for her, getting her there quicker and she moaned his name as she pulsed around him. Grabbing her other thigh, he released her nipple and lifted her to sit on the table, "Lay back."

Doing as he said, she laid back on the table and his arm laced around her back as he held her hip, thrusting into her fast and hard, the speed they both needed. His lips found hers again and their tongues danced through their panting. He'd laid awake the past few nights thinking about her, wishing she'd been in his arms, how he wouldn't wake up with her there, the noises she made when she liked what he did, how she bit her lip when she _really_ liked something he did. Her ankles hooked around his hips and he lowered his arm down her back, making her grip at his shirt. He knew exactly what to do and how to touch her and she would kill for a second of it.

She was quickly getting to a second orgasm and he could feel he was getting close too. Picking up his pace he broke their kiss, focusing on getting her there before he did. Her hands were fists against his chest, lip pulled between her teeth as he took her to the edge. Rens thighs tightened around his hips as she came. He managed to last until the end before he quickly pulled out, his load landing on the ground. He supported himself above her as they caught their breath. Running her hand up his neck she smiled, "I'm going to wear this dress every goddamn day."

"No you ain't." He kissed her chest, covering her breast back up.

"Well I'm sure as hell not going to go without seeing you for two weeks again." She looked at him, an amused smirk now on her face.

"That mean you're makin runs with me now?" He kissed up her neck.

"If it means that happening more often, I can make the sacrifice." She laughed as he nipped at her skin. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to be sitting up. Looking up at him, she wore a content smile, "I should probably change before we go to Alexandria."

"You're changin for sure." He gave her a kiss, "C'mon. We should go."

"Alright, fine." She hopped off the table before grabbing her panties. Turning to look at him while she walked, she grinned, "You know we might need a shower too after that."

"Maybe." Watching her slide her underwear back on, he knew it would be more than a maybe.

* * *

 **A/N: Be sure to let me know what you guys think :) Stories not over yet ;)**


	44. Chapter 44

They got off the bike in Alexandria and Negan walked up with a smile, "How's my girl doing?"

"I'm fine." Ren laughed giving him a hug back.

"I was talking about Becca actually." Negan gave her a squeeze.

Ren rolled her eyes, "She's fine too. Still hasn't started sleeping all the way through the night but I can barely hear her. The other four are doing good too. How's everyone here?"

"Good. I think Nessa's itching to get out there with you guys. Kara too." He told her as they started walking, "Once the trials over they're going to leave. We found Chantels group, a little community just on the other side of D.C. Her brother's staying here until she's good to go back to them. The rest are still working a lot with Father Gabriel on their trauma, I managed to get them to talk about it, but he's helping them heal."

"That's good." She smiled, "So, what was it that I was needed here for?"

"Well two things actually." Michonne said coming up to her, "One, the trial verdicts will be in tomorrow and we weren't sure if you would want to be there for that."

"As long as he get's the opposite of what he wants, I don't care what happens to him anymore. I spent too long caring about that." She told the woman, "What was the second?"

"We want the dorm to join the charter." She smiled, "Be a part of all of our groups. We want to help you build the dorm up, put in gates, Rick and Daryl just found some supplies we can use to start doing that. We'll all be able to trade with each other, this way it's not payment for your skills, but trading them for things you all can use."

"I...I don't know." Ren was surprised. She'd thought after her comments about the charter that she would just be a guest when they needed something to be fixed.

"You can think about it, talk to the others too if you want." Michonne offered, "But I think you should at least stay the night. Aaron cooked you dinner."

"How can I not stay with that kind of bribery?" Ren smirked. She went to the house and put her over night bag down, she very rarely stayed in Alexandria anymore, so she didn't really have any clothes there. Only half of Daryls things remained, the other half were in her room at the dorm. When she was done the two of them went over to Aarons. He welcomed them in, and he tried to stop Gracie before she made it to Ren, but the little girl was too fast for him. The girl wrapped her arms around Rens leg and smiled up at her. Ren smiled back down, "Well aren't you hyper today?"

"Yeah, she might have had a few cookies while dinner was cooking." Aaron told her.

"And ruin your appetite for your daddys amazing cooking? How could you?" Ren gasped down at the little girl before picking her up, much to both Daryl and Aarons surprise. She'd always shied away from all of the kids, except that one night with Judith. Ren looked at them, "They say it takes a village to raise a baby, and well I'm part of the village with Becca so I had to deal with it at some point."

"And how did it go when you did?" Aaron smirked.

"Well she was crying a lot and Charlotte couldn't handle it and just put her in my arms while she went to get Sera and she calmed down. Seems she likes me." Ren shrugged as Gracie put her head on her shoulder.

"She ain't the only one." Daryl pointed at the little girl.

"It's weird, I haven't really been around kids all that much." Ren smiled down at the little girl and she looked up at her, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before putting her head back on Rens shoulder. The girl stayed there until it was time to eat and she was put in her high chair next to Aaron.

As they ate, he asked, "So what's the hesitation? I know you want to talk to the others, but you guys will sign right?"

"Probably, I don't know." She answered.

"You were already talkin about helpin Oceanside." Daryl looked over at her.

"I know. It's not that, like I have no problem working with the communities and all that." She leaned back in her chair.

"Then what is it?" Aaron asked.

"It's the being a part of something big." She tried to word it, "The last time I was a part of something big, I literally blew it up. And I did that because of what was happening to us and how we were being treated. When it comes to political things like this I have absolutely no experience. I just know that there will be at least nine of us at the dorm. Nine. Compared to how may here, and at Hilltop, the Kingdom?"

"Your worried about your voices not being heard." Aaron said, then admitted with a sigh, "Understandable given our track record."

"You'll be heard." Daryl scooped food into his mouth. He wasn't going to let them ever not be.

"And if it's something you don't agree with us on?" She asked him.

"What'dya mean?" He asked.

"Disagreements happen. We aren't the same person." She couldn't help but smile at him, it was so sweet how loyal he was, "We have two different opinions and if you're saying you're going to make sure that we're represented, is that just on things we agree on, because if we don't agree, you might not want us to be heard."

"Don matter if we agree or not." He told her, "Didn want you going back to the dorm all them times, but you did anyways. We didn agree on it, but I still let you go."

"You couldn't have stopped me if you tried." She chuckled wrapping noodles around her fork.

"I didn stop you because I knew you'd have never come back." He told her, "Just like they know that if you aren't heard, you won't come back."

"So, what your saying is that they'll make sure to listen to us because they don't want to lose our skills?" She couldn't help but be amused.

"They are really useful ones." Aaron admitted, then joked, "But we like you guys for your personalities too."

"Good to know." She laughed.

They finished their dinner and the two of them went back to their room. He kicked back on the bed and watched as she got ready for bed, "You still ain't sure?"

"Daryl." She sighed, "It's complicated."

"I know." He told her.

"What'll happen if we don't?" She looked at him, "Will a lot change?"

"Nah." He told her, "Just that if somethin happens at the dorm and somethin happens at Oceanside, they would be more important for the others to help."

"The others?" She raised her eyebrow at him.

"You're my top priority." He responded.

"You're too damn good for me Daryl Dixon." Ren moved and sat on the side of the bed next to him. Toying with the dirty shirt in her hands she looked at it, "It took me like six months to talk to a group of people at Hilltop. Longer for here and Kingdom. I've spent so much more time alone than I have with people, the idea of being chained to so many, having obligations to so many, scares me. Even just the few at the dorm. They look at me to make decisions and even the small ones freak me out because they aren't just for me. Those choices don't just affect me. They affect other people now too." She turned to look at him now, "Even when we made the deal with Rick about the rescue, I know that if I had said I was against it, they would have gone with me because for some reason they trust my judgement on things."

"Because they trust you." He rubbed her back.

"I wasn't meant to lead. I was meant to be stuck in a room with a bunch of technology making it all work together, not people." She sighed, "It wasn't until the world ended that I had more than a few friends and we were all locked in cages. The only reason they think that I'm strong is because I had resolved myself into believing that we were going to get out and made it happen in a moment of rage."

"They think you're that strong because you are."

"Says the man that's had to pick me up how many times?" She asked him with a half-smile on her lips.

"Says the man who met you after you'd travelled across the country alone. After you'd killed them while they hunted you. After you'd built a place to keep you safe and survive all by yourself while lookin for your brother. Then watched you help a stranger who was dyin. Help a community that needed you despite not havin a reason to trust any of them. Ren, it wasn't that one thing you did that makes them think that you're strong. It's everything they know you did after that does." He leaned up and pressed his lips to her forehead, holding her there he whispered, "You're strong enough to take care of all of them."

He knew that's what this was about, she was worried about doing the right thing for all of them instead of herself. Sighing and leaning her head on his shoulder she said, "I'll talk to them tomorrow during the verdict."

"You sure you don wanna be there?" He asked.

"Yeah." She cuddled up to him, "I don't even want to think of them anymore."

"Still wanna learn how to hunt?" He wrapped his arms around her.

"Yeah." She answered, "I have a group of people to feed when you aren't around."

"I'll always be around."

"You better."

* * *

Sera had come up from the dorm late in the afternoon. Ren greeted her at the gate, and she asked, "So do you know what the verdict was, hermana?"

"I do." She answered.

"And?" Sera looked at her.

"He apparently hated it." Ren smirked, "Now I wish I had been there just to see him get all red in the face and pissy."

"What was it?" Sera said, "Please tell me castration."

"Nah, they didn't know how to make that work, but apparently it was on the table." Ren laughed, then told her, "Life imprisonment. But since he can't manage to keep his hands to himself, they'll be taking them."

"No." Sera held back the smile, "They're going to cut off his hands?"

"Apparently Negan offered it up as an option and Rick liked it since he didn't want those hands being able to get on his daughter if he were to ever escape." Ren told her.

"Smart man." Sera said, "I may want to be there for them cutting them off, just letting you know."

"More power to ya." Ren chuckled, "So are you ready to do this?"

"Yeah." They began walking to the town hall, "They said two of us had to do it?"

"Well Maggie was the only one that signed for Hilltop, but they say two is typical to make sure that it was all agreed too." Ren stopped before they opened the door, "Now we're all sure about this?"

"I know we were just talking over the walkie, but you should have seen the other three, they were all about it." Sera told her, then put her hand on her friends' shoulder, "You realize since I'm signing this too, that means you're sharing responsibility for it too. If it goes tits up, we fucked up together."

Ren laughed, "I doubt it will. Just know that if we're sharing responsibility that if I hunt the food you have to skin it."

"Hell no, I'll take care of the crops." Sera smirked before they opened the doors together. They saw Maggie, Michonne, Rick, Carol, Cyndie, Daryl, and Negan all waiting for them at the desk where the charter had been pulled down and laid with a pen next to it.

"Ready?" Sera asked.

"Yeah." Ren answered.

* * *

 **A/N: Yay! The Dorm is offically part of the communities! Let me know what you guys think!**


	45. Chapter 45

Days turned into weeks and with that all the girls had moved into the dorm, except Victoria, who felt more comfortable still in Alexandria. Ren had told her she was more than welcome in the dorm, but the girl felt bad for all that she had done. Becca, Gracie, and Herschel would all have play dates, and Michonne was pregnant with another child and that would add to the amount of trouble they were all in for as the kids started growing up. Daryl, Rick, and Negan led the renovations of the dorm, moving cars and clearing paths to help the girls have more space, making fences for them so they were protected from munchers.

Ren and Sera had created a workshop in the dining hall since the windows gave them good light and the doors were wide enough for them to get large things like cars and panels through. They however had been spending most of their time trying to figure out how to make a wheel that would work for their hydroelectricity idea, since making a dam didn't seem plausible.

Daryl would make sure she got out though, teaching her how to track before he would teach her how to shoot his crossbow, mostly because he had yet to find a second one for her to have, but also because it was becoming fall and the animals were starting to prepare for winter and heading south or getting ready to hibernate. He stopped her and asked, "What'dya see?"

She looked at the ground and squatted, "Tracks, but they aren't that big."

"What're they from?"

"It's a padded foot?" She looked up at him sounded confident but with a raised eyebrow. He couldn't help but smile with a nod. Looking back at them she said, "It looks like a wolf but it's small…are there coyotes in Virginia?"

"You're the one that used to live here." He looked down at her.

"No, I spent summers here." She reminded him, "And I wasn't trekking through the forest while I did."

"Only one way to find out what it is." He told her, "Follow 'em."

She nodded, thinking she was getting better at this, but knowing it was slowly. He was _really_ good at this. He could see things she couldn't through brush and at night. She could barely keep a path of tracks visible to herself. As they walked, he said, "Don think it's a coyote."

"What makes you think that?" She asked him.

"Just one." He told her, looking at the tracks, "You'd think another would have come up or there'd be a pack."

She looked at him in shock, "Do I know something you don't about nature?"

"What'dya mean?" He asked.

"Coyotes don't run in packs. Typically, they stay by themselves unless at their den taking care of cubs." She told him, an amused smile on her face, "So it could still be a coyote."

"How'd you know that?" He asked, "You been readin about animals too?"

"No." She laughed, "Remember how I'd been rock climbing once? Well during that they did some lessons on the local predators too, coyotes were one of them."

"Ah." He responded. Then smirked as they'd been walking, "Where're your tracks?"

She looked around on the ground, "Motherfucker you distracted me!"

"I didn do nothing." He held back his amusement as much as possible as she started doubling back on where they had come from. As he started to follow her, he added, "Gunna have to work on how loud you walk too."

"I walk perfectly quiet when I'm not being picked on by you." She turned on him. Off in the distance she heard something, and he went to open his mouth, but she put her finger to her lips, and he stopped as she focused. He might be able to see things she couldn't, but she had hearing that he didn't. She looked at him, "Do you hear that?"

"What is it?" He couldn't, and he knew she knew that he couldn't.

"I don't know." She muttered but began to follow it, "It's slightly rhythmic. But pauses randomly."

"We need to be careful. It could bring walkers." He said as they got closer and he started to hear it too.

As they walked out into a clearing, they could see a house being surrounded by walkers and she realized, "It's barking!"

"Ren!" he yelled as she started running towards the house, pulling out her Kamas. He shot at walkers turning and noticing her. She cut down the ones he didn't get too. After a few minutes and a lot of blood the walkers were all gone, and the barking had turned to scratching and whining at the door. Daryl came up to her, "Are you crazy?"

She opened the door and a German Shepard came out, tail wagging at her as she bent down and ruffled his neck. She looked back up at Daryl, "What do you mean?"

"Runnin off like that when there were that many!" He told her, "All for a dog?"

"Of course, for a dog." She smiled at the animal then sat down next to him looking up at him, "I mean look at this good boy, how could you not? Don't tell me you don't already love the little guy."

He had always loved dogs, and he was glad for once one wasn't feral and attacking him. It didn't help that she was looking up at him with those damn eyes, and a wide smile on her face while the dog sat next to her, both of them awaiting his approval. He sighed, "We ain't keepin him."

"You might not be, but I am." She stood up.

He fought back a smile, "He's still trained, means he's got an owner."

"You're telling me you don't smell that?" She asked and he hated himself because he did, he was just hoping that she wouldn't.

"Let's check it out." He motioned inside the house and as they headed inside the dog ran in front of them, into another room. When they got there, they saw the source of the smell, a corpse with a gun shot through its head, the now dog whining at its feet.

"Asshole. Who kills themselves when they have something that depends on them?" Ren muttered. She looked at the dog, "When was the last time you ate? Are you hungry?" The dog's ears perked at this and she then asked, "Where's your food?" The dog now ran off to another part of the house and she looked back at Daryl, "He's a smart one, you can't tell me that you aren't thinking of how he can help you hunt."

"Hush." He muttered and motioned for her to follow the dog. She did with a smirk, and he rolled his eyes at her. Somedays he hated how well she knew him.

Once in the kitchen the dog barked at a cabinet and Ren opened it up to find his food and she poured it out into a bowl for him and he began devouring it, clearly not having eaten in at least three days given the state of the body in the other room. Looking back up at Daryl, she said, "You really don't want to keep him?"

He sighed, it'd had been his plan since he saw the dead owner, "Fine, we can keep him."

"Yay!" She wrapped her arms around him, and he held back a laugh.

"Sleeps on the floor though." Daryl told her.

"I'll make him the comfiest little bed." She turned and watched as he ate. "I should look around and see if he has a name." He looked around for anything useful while she looked to find the dogs name instead. When she didn't find it, they went back to the dog who was finishing his meal and she looked at Daryl, "What should we name him?"

"What'dya mean?" he asked

"He's got to have a name." She laughed.

"Just call him dog." Daryl shrugged.

"We are not calling him dog." She rolled her eyes at him with a smile.

"Why not, he's a dog."

"Alright, fine. We'll call him dog." She began to leave the room, "Come on human."

"What?" He looked at her.

"If he's a dog and we call him dog, then you're a human and I should call you human." She looked at him innocently.

He couldn't stop his smile, she was a pain in the ass some days, but he loved it, "Fine, what'dya want to name him?"

"Hmm." She thought about it, "What about Thor?"

"Thor?" He asked.

"Yeah, Norse god of thunder, makes loud noises, just like this guy. Plus, the guy who played him in the movie was almost as cute as he is." Ren smiled down at the dog, "Isn't that right?"

"I don like that reasoning." He told her.

"Don't worry." She looked at him, "I think you're a little more than cute."

"Only a little?" He asked.

"A lot." She smiled giving him a quick kiss before walking out of the room and saying, "Come on Thor."

The dog bounded after her and Daryl smiled, following both of them out of the small house. They decided that instead of working on their tracking lesson for the day they would take the dog back to the dorm and go and look for food and necessities for him until they were able to make sure they could feed it from what they hunted.

That night they crawled into bed and Thor didn't want to sleep in his bed in the corner of the room. He kept whining, wanting to sleep near Ren. Daryl thought he was going to have to give in to her own puppy dog eyes before she got out of the bed and moved Thors bed over to be right next to the side she slept on. The dog curled up there and fell asleep.

"Thank you." Ren whispered to Daryl.

"For?" He asked.

"Being alright with me keeping him." She smiled, "Even though I know you like him too."

"Makes you happy, makes him happy, that makes me happy." He wrapped his arms around her.

"I love you." She snuggled into his chest.

"Love you too." He replied.

* * *

 **A/N: Okay I know this was a short one, but I just couldn't help it. I needed Dog in this story and Dog needed a name! Also I didn't plan for Ren to become a big ball of mush when it came to him, but I love puppers and couldn't help it haha. Let me know what you guys think!**


	46. Chapter 46

Ren and Sera worked tirelessly most days on the water wheels and finding a way to hook them to turbines or power generators to get them to work. Eugene came and helped some days with the science and a manual that Maggie had offered some tips as well. It was the dead of winter and they had their workshop doors open and Ren was sweating despite the cold as she worked with the welder. Lifting the mask off her face she let the cold air hit her damp skin and enjoyed how it felt. Daryl brought in a barrel of scraps for them to use, "Where'dya want 'em?"

"Over there." She pointed to a corner with some other scraps.

"You doing alright under there?" Sera asked as she worked with a drill.

"Is it weird that I haven't been to work in over four years, and I feel like I need a vacation?" Ren asked with a smile and laugh.

"Yes, yes, it is." Sera laughed too, "Because this isn't work, it's fun!"

"Yeah you're only saying that because if you're not here, you're putting up with a teething baby." Ren pointed at her.

"Yes, well when you're not here you're…I have nothing." Sera gave up, "Fine, I guess if you feel like you need a vacation it's justified."

"How much longer you think it's gunna take?" Daryl asked looking at the wheel and the contraption they had it hooked too.

"Hopefully it'll be done by the time it warms up a bit, so we don't have to test it in freezing water." Ren told him.

"So less than two months?" He clarified.

"Probably much less than that, but we're still going to wait until the water isn't freezing hermano." Sera told him, "Ren likes the snow, but apparently not after it melts."

"Look if it doesn't freeze but is still below sixty degrees, it's just not okay for anything to be submerged in for too long." Ren defended herself.

"I'm from Venezuela, I don't disagree with you. I think it's cold out when it's sixty degrees and sunny." Sera joked, then looked to Daryl, "I can borrow your muscles for a minute?"

"Yeah." He came over and she pointed to a band.

"I need to you pull that as tight as possible so I can hook it on."

"Alright." He said and did what he was instructed to do. He watched as Sera drilled in the band he was holding and when she was done, he let go.

She pushed on it lightly, "That should be enough tension."

"So, are we done for the day?" Ren asked.

"Do we have to be?" Sera looked back at her.

"You have a family to get back too."

"And you got a dog to wash." Daryl told Ren.

"I'm fine with that." Ren smiled as she took her gloves off and headed back to the dorm.

* * *

Ren was walking with her arms around her to try and help keep herself warm. Daryl had brought her out and she had no idea why given that it was so cold out. He had a backpack on, and she wondered if maybe Hilltop or Kingdom had needed her to do something, but he was being very secretive about whatever was going on. As they walked, she asked, "Why did we leave Thor?"

"Too cold for him to be out this long." He told her, "Don wanna hurt his paws."

"Look at you, being a softie for our little fluff ball." She smirked.

"Hush." He tried not to smile.

"Daryl I'm starting to think it's too cold for us to be out this long. Where are we going?" She asked.

"Almost there." He answered.

"Why couldn't we have driven?" She continued.

"Ain't as fun." He gave her another answer.

"Since when do you like fun?" She raised an eyebrow at him, and he looked at her over his shoulder. She shrugged, "What? When was the last time you said something was fun?"

"Thought I said hush." He turned away from her, realizing she was right.

"So, I'm not wrong." She smiled.

He turned to face her, arm going around her waist, "I know somethin I find fun."

Her face flushed with what he was talking about and she held back a smile, "I know body heat helps with the cold, but we are not having sex out here."

"Nah, not out here." He answered, then pointed to a single house on a road. She looked from the house then back to him, clearly confused. "You said you wanted a vacation."

"I wonder if in a parallel universe I'm regretting having left you in the forest." She smiled up at him.

"You'll never know." He took her hand, leading her over to the house.

"Is it empty?" She asked.

"Yeah." He answered.

"How do you know?"

"Carol stayed here a while ago. Before she lived in the Kingdom." He told her, "No one uses it now, but we use it as a drop point sometimes."

"Nobody's going to drop anything off today, are they?" She made sure that they weren't going to get caught in the act.

"Nah." He opened the door for her, "Told 'em it'd be in use for a few days."

"Few days?" She turned to look at him, her eyes wide.

"The others know. They said you deserve a break." He shut the door then started working on a fire.

"Wait, they knew about this?" She asked and he nodded his head. A smile began forming on her face as she walked over to him, flames catching on the wooden logs in the fireplace. "You really planned a vacation for me?"

"Yeah." He stood up as the flames grew and looked down at her. Seeing slight shock on her face he asked, "What?"

"Nothing… Just no one's ever done that for me before." She couldn't stop her smile, "Makes me feel special."

"You are." He told her.

She walked around the small house that was getting nice and toasty now. Taking off her jacket she asked, "So how many days is a few?"

"Four." He answered.

"Four days in a house during the winter…do we have enough food?" She turned and looked at him.

He went over to the cabinets and opened one, showing her that it was stocked, "Stop worryin and relax."

"Do you realize who you're talking to? That's not written in my code." She joked.

"It's gunna be." He went over to her and put his arms around her. She smiled up at him and he gave her a kiss. "You hungry?"

"You're going to cook for me too?" Ren didn't think she could smile anymore.

"Mmhmm." He answered.

"Then yes. The walk did make me kind of hungry." She answered.

"Go on, relax. I'll handle it." He headed for the kitchen. She did as he said and looked through more of the place. She found a few books on the shelves and pulled one down that had a pretty cover. None of the genres were really her thing, but it had been a while since she read a book just to read. Sitting down on the couch near the fire she opened to the first page, taking a moment to look at Daryl in the kitchen. She'd never been more thankful that the nightmares were few and far between now, that she wasn't being hunted, that she could actually relax now. He saw her smiling at him, "What?"

"Nothing." Her eyes lingered on him a little longer before she began reading. She'd had her dream job before the world ended, but this was the happiest she'd ever been.

For four days it was just the two of them, just like it had been in the beginning. They cooked together, sat by the fireplace, slept on the couch together during the day, and at night they would watch the snow fall together. They made love every day and fell asleep in each other's arms every night. Ren knew that Daryl had needed a break just as much as she had, and they didn't take any moment of it for granted.

* * *

As they approached the dorm Ren was actually a little sad to be back, wanting to have stayed in the little home a bit longer. But then she heard a bark and Thor came running up to her and she knelt down with a big smile as the dog licked her face, "Aww, did you miss mommy? I missed you too. Did you miss daddy?"

Thor barked and licked Daryls hand and he gave the dog a scratch between the ears, holding back a smile. When they walked up to the door Sera greeted them with a smile, "You two have a good time?"

"All that was missing was a sauna." Ren laughed.

"Oh, that sounds heavenly." Charlotte said having heard Ren.

"Ren's back?" April yelled from up the stairs.

"Yes, she is!" Ren called back to her and she and Brittany came bounding down the stairs both with smiles on their faces. She looked at the sisters suspiciously, "There's only one occasion in which the both of you have been this happy to see me, and that makes me worried."

"We had an idea." Brittany said.

"Okay." Ren held it out.

"Springs coming, right? And we have a huge area." April followed.

"Yeah." Ren kept waiting for it.

"So, would you be cool with us renovating the library, maybe setting up a few booths…" Brittany held back a grin.

"For what?" Ren tried to mirror their expressions while not understanding at all what they were getting at.

"For the kids!" April told her, "There are so many, and I think about all the fun things that we all used to have as kids and growing up in this world has to kind of suck when you're five."

"Oh yeah, I forgot that you taught in elementary school." Charlotte smiled.

"Read them some books, maybe let them take a few home." Brittany said, "Have crafts for them to do, I know that I heard some of the parents in Alexandria talking about feeling bad for them not being able to experience something as simple as macaroni art."

Ren looked between the two sisters and then to Daryl, who just shrugged his shoulders that it wasn't a bad idea. He knew Judith would love it. Looking back at the two girls, she couldn't help but smile, "I think it's a great idea. Let's do it."

* * *

 **A/N: Be sure to let me know what you guys think! Lots of downtime for these guys (I think they deserve it).**


	47. Chapter 47

"You sure you're good to go?" Sera asked Ren.

"Yeah I'm fine. I think that batch of tomatoes just didn't agree with me." Ren smiled at her and Sera raised an eyebrow at her.

"I don't want to call you a liar to your face, so go on, I'll do it after you leave." She sighed and Ren left the building, Thor following her out.

She found Daryl waiting for her outside and he pushed himself off the wall, "You ready?"

"Yeah." She smiled and he handed her his bow, "What's that for?"

"You're huntin today." He told her and she took the crossbow, which was heavier than he made it seem and put it over her shoulder. They walked to the gate and opened it, Thor running out and waiting for them as they closed it back.

They walked, tracking what she believed to be was an elk, and she ignored the bile in her throat the whole time. She didn't think she could possibly have anything left to throw up after that morning, but that didn't mean her stomach wouldn't try. Sipping at the water they had, she tried to keep her digestive system calm until they were finished hunting. She was glad that Daryl had left the dorm to get ready before she had to run to the bathroom to expel her breakfast into the toilet or else they wouldn't be out there.

Thor stopped his walking and let out a huff, they'd trained him not to bark so he didn't scare away what they were hunting, and their eyes landed on a healthy elk, it would feed them for weeks. Carefully she took the crossbow off of her back and bent over, regretting it immediately as she felt the bile rising again. But she swallowed it down as she used all her strength to lock the arrow into place. She held it up and focused on the animal. Daryl moved behind her to check her sight and whispered, "Down slightly."

She could feel her mouth starting to water, but she couldn't, not until she shot the creature. Doing as he instructed, she held her breath, hoping it would help and when he told her to pull the trigger, she felt the lurch, but she pulled. The arrow skimmed off a tree and went into the hindquarters of the elk and it took off running into the forest as she bent over, spilling the water she had drank onto the forest floor. She spit out the little bit remaining in her mouth, "Fuck, I'm sorry. I missed."

"Screw that." Daryl turned her to look at him, "You alright?"

"Fine." She answered swallowing hard, but she felt her stomach tightening again and turned away from him, bile, the only thing left in her stomach coming out now.

"Fine my ass." He moved his hand to her forehead as Thor let out a worried whine, "Are you sick?"

"You're hands in the wrong spot." She wiped her mouth and he looked at her confused. She moved his hand from her head to her stomach and he froze, his eyes going wide.

"You…Are you sure?" He kept his eyes on hers.

"Yeah, I'm two months late." She took a sip of her water, she didn't know how he'd react, "I know we never talked about it…the whole kids thing…that okay?"

"Are…are you okay?" Daryl was still having a hard time comprehending it. She was pregnant. With his baby. "After what happened…"

"It's fine." She gave him a weak smile, "I had wanted kids."

"But…" He didn't want this to hurt her.

"It's yours." She cupped his cheek, "That's what makes it okay. There's no one else I would rather do this with, because I know no matter what, you've got me."

He wrapped his arms around her, his face buried in her neck. She let out a soft laugh as he held her tight before he kissed her deep. When he broke away, he looked down at her and he'd never thought he'd be a dad, but he also never thought he'd have someone like her. He was scared but excited and he could tell she was too, and that made him feel better. Pushing her hair from her face he ran his fingers along her cheek, "You wanna go back?"

"Hell no, I want to get that damn elk." She told him, but then handed him the bow, "But you might want to take that."

"Yeah, you ain't carryin nothin from now on." He took the crossbow from her.

"I'm pregnant, not broken." She told him and he tried not to smile at her actually saying it. "I've been throwing up for three weeks without you knowing. I'm surprised you haven't asked why I've been peeing so much."

"Why didn you tell me sooner?" he asked.

"I wanted to make sure…" She said, her voice low.

"Make sure of what?" he looked at her.

Rens face fell slightly, and he saw her hand ghost over her stomach, "I wanted to make sure that after what all had happened…that they hadn't messed me up in some way. I didn't want to tell you just to lose it."

He wrapped her in his arms again, trying to keep his heart from shattering at the idea of her keeping this to herself for at least a month, waiting to see if she would lose their baby all alone. Running his hand down her hair he asked, "You wanna go see Saddiq?"

"Yeah." She told him, "It would make me feel better, making sure that everythings okay."

"We'll go." He kissed her on the head, "And whatever happens, we'll both deal with it."

She let out a relieved sigh, "I love you."

"Love you too." He let her go and they started tracking the injured elk again.

Her voice was low as they walked, "So, I know Sera and Charlotte already know..."

"How?"

"They've kind of experienced me experiencing the first trimester before." She reminded him, "But…I don't want anyone else to know just yet."

Daryl knew she was being cautious, and she probably wasn't sure how her uncle would react knowing that Daryl got his niece pregnant. He nodded, "Alright."

"Boy or girl?" She asked.

"Huh?" He looked at her.

"Do you want it to be a boy or a girl?" She clarified.

He stopped and looked at her, "Girl."

"Really?" She smiled, not having expected that.

"Yeah." He nodded, "Be strong, smart, just like her mom."

"Funny, I was thinking a boy so he would be like you, caring and protective." She told him, a corner of her lip slightly upturned.

"How 'bout one of each?" He couldn't take his eyes off of her at that moment. "Eventually."

"Yeah, that sounds good. Eventually." She agreed and they went on with their tracking, Thor leading the way.

* * *

They had managed to get into the medical house with out being seen by anyone, especially Negan, and Saddiq led them to a back room, knowing their want for secrecy. She laid down on a bed and pulled up her shirt to reveal her stomach before he put the gel on her skin. The sensations were all to familiar but the feeling of everything was the complete opposite as before. This time she was hopeful that there would be something on the screen, that the heartbeat would be strong and steady. Daryl slipped his hand into hers, not sure who was needing the support more as the doctor placed the probe against her stomach.

Ren closed her eyes, not sure what to expect, fearing the worst, her hand gripping Daryls tighter than she thought it would. But then she heard it. A sound she'd heard before but this time the tears it brought to her eyes were ones of happiness.

"It's a strong heartbeat." Saddiq told her and she opened her eyes, looking at the screen with a tiny mass on it.

Feeling a tear slip from her eye she quickly wiped it away, "Fuck, I didn't think I'd be this damn emotional."

"It's alright." Daryl squeezed her hand and she looked at him, seeing that his eyes were watery too.

Saddiq smiled at the two of them, "Ren, your little one seems perfectly healthy for being about ten to eleven weeks along."

"That seems about right." She sniffled.

"Good." He looked back at the screen, pausing it on a clear image of the fetus, "As of right now, nothing seems out of the ordinary. I'll give you some vitamins that we have in store, but also a list of foods you should eat to make sure that baby stays perfectly healthy the whole time, as well as a list of foods you might want to avoid. Right now, you should be good to keep up with your normal activities but as time goes on, we're going to want to cut them down and play it by ear. I know with the festival coming up in a month or two you're going to want to help as much as possible, but no lifting anything over twenty-five pounds."

"Alright." She said, then asked, "You're going to write all this down, right?"

"I can, yes." He laughed. "I'll go get you everything."

Saddiq left the room and the two of them were quiet, both looking at the screen with their baby on it. Daryl brought her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it, "You okay?"

"I'm…so relieved." She let out the breath she had been holding and looked at him with a soft smile, "It's okay."

He nodded, "It's perfect."

Sitting up slightly she pressed her lips to his before putting her forehead against his. She couldn't stop her smile, "We're having a baby."

"Yeah, we are." He smiled back, his own happiness pushing through.

"You're going to be one hell of a dad, you know that?" She whispered.

He couldn't believe she had so much faith in him, but he also knew that she knew nothing about his own father. He'd only told her about Merle. But his father hadn't set the standard of being a good dad very high, and he knew he was already a better man that his dad had been, so he'd at least be a better dad than his. He told her, "I ain't ever gunna let anything happen to either of you."

"I know." She smiled, "That's why you're going to be a great dad."

Saddiq came back in the room with a towel for her to wipe her stomach off as well as two bottles of pills. He had written down instructions and guidelines for her and went over them with both of them. He told them that he would put the bottles with things for them to take back to the dorm with them so no one would see them leaving with it and they thanked him before leaving.

As they walked out of the house, they ran into Victoria carrying her new born. Ren stopped to talk to her, "Hey, how are you?"

"I'm alright." The girl was still sheepish around Ren.

"Hows…Jacob?" She made she sure was getting the name right.

"He's good. Saddiq said he's really healthy." She smiled moving the blanket to reveal her sons face.

"That's good." Ren smiled down at the little bundle, "I know he's not old enough to really enjoy it, but are you planning on coming to the festival next month? It's kind of been turned into a thing for more than just the kids at this point."

"I…Are you sure you want me there?" Victoria looked at her, shame on her face.

Ren put her hand on the girls shoulder, "Victoria, I don't hold what you did against you. They all fucked us up good and in different ways. Will I hold it against them? Yes. But I don't hold anything against you. You always have a place with us at the dorm if you want it or if you want to stay here with my Uncle looking after the two of you that's fine too."

"Thank you." Victoria finally smiled at her, "After hearing Brad say that they had killed my mom I didn't know what would happen to me at all. You guys have been really welcoming and nice to me even though the stuff I did and said…"

"Do you know what 'hermana' means?" Ren asked her and the girl shook her head, "It's Spanish for sister. We all call each other that…it started with Sera back at the compound, we'd all been taken from our families, forced into something we hated. But we became each other's family, we all became each other's sisters because we knew what the others had gone through in some fashion or another. We were each other's support system. Whether you're here or there, you're our hermana too, no matter what."

"Thanks Ren. That really means a lot." Victoria told her, "And I'm not just saying that. It's nice to know that Jacob will have Becca to grow up with, another kid that…well you know."

"Yeah, I know. But he's got a great mom who loves him and that's what matters." Ren squeezed her shoulder, "Now go have your checkup. And think about coming to the festival."

"Alright." The girl smiled going up to the door.

She began walking to the house and as she passed by the jail house she heard, "Yoohoo, over here cunt!"

"Fuck off Brad." Was all she responded as she kept on walking, paying no attention to his other calls. They had dinner with Rick, Judith, and Michonne, who was about to go into labor any day. When they got ready for bed, Ren laid down and like always Daryl put his arms around her, but this time his hand rested on her stomach, thumb caressing the fabric of her shirt as she fell asleep.

* * *

 **A/N: Be sure to leave me a review so I know if you liked it or not! I was so happy to be able to write this one!**


	48. Chapter 48

Charlotte brought over a little bag for Ren, "Give this to your Uncle when you see him."

"Okay." Then the smell hit her, "Oh got what is it?"

"Cabbage stew! I triple wrapped it for you!" Charlotte face fell, "There's no way!"

"Oh, there's a way." She held the bag away from her. "At least it killed my craving."

"What is it this time?" Sera asked with a smirk, "Sweet or salty?"

"Sweet. But not fruit this time. I just want some goddamn oreos." Ren told her.

"Oh yeah, that's not something you're going to find anymore." Charlotte told her, "I remember all I wanted was soda. It was horrible."

"Shitty time for cravings." Ren muttered.

"Cravings?" Kara came in, "Are you finally going to eat the container of pickles I made you?"

The thought of pickles made her want to gag, "Nah, sorry, I think I pickled myself out for a bit."

Sera tried not to laugh at how she played off her being pregnant even though the others weren't stupid, they'd all been there too. "Well you ate a jar a week for months straight, so it'd be understandable if you did."

"What? They're really good. And I don't know how she does it, but Kara," She looked at the girl, remembering how good they tasted despite the fact the smell put her off right now, "those are better than any store bought pickles."

"Locally made stuff was always my shit." Kara smiled.

"Has Daryl already left?" Candace came down the stairs.

"Yeah about two hours ago." Ren answered as she came into view, "Why what's up?"

"Nothing important, I was just hoping to use his strength to carry boxes in the Library." She shrugged. "Aren't you supposed to be leaving soon?"

"Soon, yeah." Ren answered, "Daryl was going to Hilltop and Kingdom, I'm just going to Alexandria today, so I don't have to leave as early."

"You going to be home by dinner hermana?" Sera asked.

"Yeah." Ren told her, "I never miss taco Tuesday."

"Wait, I thought we'd decided it was taco Thursday?" Kara looked around.

Charlotte shrugged, "Vote was tied after Nessa and we decided that since we don't really do calendars anymore it could be either."

"As long as it's tacos." Ren smiled and they all laughed.

* * *

Daryl knocked on the door to Maggies office. The woman turned and smiled at him, "Come in."

"He's gettin big." Daryl pointed at Herschel who was a little over two now.

"Yeah, they grow fast." Maggie smiled at her son. Daryl shut the door behind him, and she looked at him worried, "Everything okay?"

He nodded, "Fine…Just didn want anyone else to hear."

"Hear what?" Maggie walked over to him, still just as concerned.

"I was just wonderin…." He had no clue how to ask this. Ren hadn't even asked him too, but he saw every day when she was getting dressed, she was beginning to have issues, "You got any pants Ren can borrow?"

"For what?" She asked.

"For…uhh…" He had hoped she would have understood right away, "Her stomach."

"Stoma-" Her eyes grew wide before a smile came across her face, "Is she-"

"Yeah, but we don want anyone knowin just yet." He told her.

"Congratulations!" Maggie embraced him, "You two are going to do great."

"Thanks." He tried not to act awkward about it, he had known her reaction would be something like this, but he wasn't looking forward to when Rick found out and that stupid grin he would get on his face.

Maggie let him go but her smile remained, "I have some things she can have, the pants might be to long for her but she can do what she wants, I don't see myself needing them any time soon."

"She'll appreciate it. I see her strugglin in the mornin."

"How far along is she?"

"Bout three months or so." Daryl told her.

"Alright, I have ones that should hide it pretty well until you guys are ready to tell people." Maggie thought about all the stuff she had upstairs in her room, "Does she have loose fitting shirts? That'll help too."

"A few, she's wearin one today for when she see's her uncle."

"Negan doesn't know yet?" Maggie looked at him somewhat surprised, "I mean I know you said you weren't telling people but, not even him?"

"I don think she knows how to tell him." Daryl admitted, "Said she's worried he might go back to not being civil with me."

"She's such a sweetheart. Sometimes I wonder how those two were related." She chuckled.

He let a slight smirk slip, "If you heard her while she was huntin, you'd know."

"Come with me upstairs." She headed for the door, still smiling from what he'd said, "I can get you a backpack or something to put the stuff in too."

"Thanks."

* * *

Ren was finishing putting things in the car and turned to look at the girls, "Alright, do I _finally_ have everything?"

"Think so." Nessa said.

"You're good to go." Brittany added.

"Alright, cool." She got into the front seat of the car, "I'll be back sometime tonight probably."

"Okay, dive safe." April smile.

"I'll obey the speed limit, don't worry." Ren rolled her eyes with a smile.

"You better wear your seatbelt too." Kara joked and the held back a laugh as Ren dramatically put the belt on.

"Everybody okay with how I'm travelling now?" She looked at them, waiting, "Anyone want to tell me to put my hands and ten and two?"

"Nah, everyone knows the best way to drive is just with one hand at twelve." Sera smiled, "Now go on, you won't be back until tomorrow if these guys keep distracting you."

"Alright. Bye guys." She laughed as she put the car in gear and watched as Candace opened the gate for her before driving through it. Settling into the drivers seat she rolled the window down slightly to feel the cool breeze. The radio was up slightly, and she tapped her fingers to the beat.

Looking out in the tree line she kept her eyes open for munchers, knowing that Jerry had told them about a herd that was forming to the northeast of them. The last thing she wanted was to crash into them. When she looked back to the road her heart skipped a beat. There was someone in the middle of it aiming a gun at her car.

She heard the shots over the music and turned the wheel to try hit the breaks to try to avoid them but felt a sting near her shoulder. Everything felt like it went in slow motion as the harsh turn of the wheel turned the car on its side, shattering the windshield and passenger side windows as the car slid that way. Finally, when the hunk of metal stopped moving she could feel warm liquid on her forehead and her hip hurt from the seatbelt. Her mind immediately went to the baby, but she didn't feel any pain there. She was soon distracted by the sound of footsteps, despite her vision blurring.

* * *

Daryl pulled up to the gates to the dorm at dusk, but they were already opening, Sera, and Nessa, walking towards it with their weapons Thor by their side. He got off the bike, "What's goin on?"

"Negan radioed us." Sera told him, "Ren never showed up at Alexandria."

"What?!" He felt a slight panic. "How long ago did she leave?"

"Around noon." Nessa answered, "We were going to walk the distance to Alexandria, Negan and Rick towards us to try and find her. We thought Thor would help."

"Let's go." Daryl said turning around immediately, "We gotta find her."

"We know." Sera said catching up to him, "And we will."

They knew the walk was long, but Thor kept them from deviating, never catching any of Rens scent. A little over halfway there though, they all froze for a moment. Walkers surrounded a car on it's side, music drawing them too it. Daryl was the first in action, loading his bow and taking them out. As the girls ran to the dead to put them down Rick and Negan showed up, taking care of more.

Once they were all gone, Negan frantically started looking at the bodies, "None of them are her."

"It's her car though." Nessa said.

"She's not in there." Rick looked at the shattered windshield to inside the car, "The seatbelt was cut."

"Ren!" Daryl yelled out, she might have cut herself free from the crash and hid from the walkers. He whistled at the dog, "Go on."

Thor took off into the tree line, sniffing the ground. Sera looked at the road and then back to the car, "What the hell happened? What could have caused the car to flip?"

"Guys." Rick said looking further into the car, "Were there bullet holes in the backseat when she left?"

"Bullet holes?" Negan got down with him and saw him. When he saw them his heart sank, "No, there weren't."

"Ren!" Daryl yelled out again. It would be completely dark soon, and if she was out there alone, and injured. He couldn't think about it. He was trying not to panic enough as is just with her being out there and pregnant. His voice shook, "We gotta find her."

"It's too dark to do it right." Rick looked at every one.

Thor barked and Daryl headed towards him, "Fuck that."

Seeing tracks in the soft dirt of the forest he started to follow them. Negan looked at everyone, "I'm with him."

"Same." Sera said as the two started following Daryl. Nessa motioned to Rick that she was going too, and he followed them in despite knowing that searching at night was too dangerous and would be a lot harder than during the day.

Daryl knew all of this too, but they had tracks and he wasn't going to not follow them. He was going to find her and kill whoever had done this.

* * *

Her head was throbbing, she was hand cuffed and the cuffs were attached to a chain that her captor lead her by. It was the dead of night and they'd been walking since he dragged her out of the car. She didn't even know if the others knew she had been taken yet or if they wouldn't find out until the next day. Hoping her Uncle had raised the alarm when she didn't show up instead of just assuming she had put the trip off, they would find her soon. She tried to make her steps as heavy as possible to make sure there were visible tracks for Daryl to follow. Ren knew he would come after her the second they found the car. But she didn't know when that would be.

She had wanted to fight the him as he pulled her out of the vehicle, but he had a gun on her, and she was already wounded both in the head and the graze on her shoulder where the bullet had hit her. To keep her child as safe as possible, she had been forced to give in, to play along with the man pointing the gun at her. He had struck her across the face with it, a gash on her cheek now, but that's all he had done when he saw her cower to him. He had always wanted her to act like that, to be afraid of him, and she hated that now she slightly was, because she had something really important to lose if he found out about her being pregnant.

They stopped for a little bit, and he tied her to a tree, she couldn't get more than a few inches away from it. He laid down on the other side of it to rest. As quietly as she could she pulled the spare knife she kept in her boot out, the knife wouldn't cut her free from her restraints, but it could tell her friends what was happening once they found her tracks. Shifting slightly, she used the moonlight through the tree limbs to start carving into the tree, low enough that she hoped the man wouldn't see it. Knowing she didn't have time to do much, that he would move them soon, Ren only carved one word.

 _Michael._

* * *

 **A/N: I was going to be mean and take a break after this chapter, but I don't know that I will, I might need a day or so to plan everything out a little better, but if I am gone it won't be too long, but tell me what you guys think of this!**


	49. Chapter 49

They followed the tracks until the sun came up, there were two of them, but that told Daryl that she was still alive and that's all he cared about, he just wanted her to be okay, for both her and their baby to be okay. He looked around the area, "They stopped here for a bit."

"Um, guys." Nessa said looking at Thor sniffing and whining next to a tree, "This isn't good."

The others walked up, and Daryl felt like he might pass out for the first time in his life seeing what had been carved into the tree. Sera shook her head, "No, it can't be."

"Ren said he was still in the building when she got out." Negan stared at the name, his eyes wide and not believing of the situation. Everything had been done, it had been over. "That he never followed her out of the window. He should have burnt up in there."

"Clearly he didn't." Daryl's voice shook with anger, "But he's gunna die now no matter what. When we find them, I'm gunna slit him ear to ear."

"We need to find them fast." Sera said, her eyes still finally moving from Michaels name to Daryl, "She's going to start showing soon and if we don't find her before then, who knows what he'll do."

"Showing?" Negan looked between the two of them and Sera realized that she had just spilled a secret. The man looked at Daryl, taking a step towards him, "Did you get my niece pregnant?"

Daryl didn't give two shits about him finding out, this wasn't the priority, "She's pregnant and was kidnapped by a pyshco who done some of the worst shit. Which one you wanna focus on?"

"You're right." Negan said despite still being very agitated that he was just finding out when she clearly was slightly along to be to the part of showing soon. "We have to find her."

"We need to keep followin their tracks." Daryl pointed, "We don know how long they rested," He tried not to think about what all that might have entailed, "They might not be that far ahead."

"Knowing Michael, it wasn't more than two hours." Nessa said, "When it was a group of us that was the max we stayed in one place while outside, with her I doubt he would even wait that long."

"We need more people, broaden the search areas." Rick said, "Following their tracks is good but if we can get people on the roads around here then we might be able to cut them off."

"That's a good idea." Negan said.

"Why don't some of us head off to do that and others keep on their trail." Nessa suggested.

"I'm stayin on her trail." Daryl looked at them, there was no way he was losing sight of the things that would lead him straight to her.

"I'll stay with him. Thor too, he can follow her scent." Sera said.

"Then we'll head back to Alexandria, get on the walkies and let the others know what's happened. We'll tell them where to look and we'll get on the roads. More eyes will find her quicker." Rick said and the group started to split. Nessa gave Sera her water and food supplies just in case they were out of contact for a while. Rick walked over to Daryl, "Hey, I'm going to try and find you after we leave Alexandria again, bring you a walkie so we can all be in contact."

"Alright." Daryl was antsy, he just wanted to get back on the move and find Ren.

"We're going to get her back, _both_ of them back." Rick put a hand on his shoulder then gave him a slight grin, not the one Daryl had been expecting, this one was a lot sadder, more worried than the mans usual one when he got good news, "Congrats brother."

"Thanks." He didn't feel nearly as good with this as he wanted too. Concern was all that consumed him.

* * *

Her feet had already been swollen but now after all the walking they hurt so bad, she was pretty sure she had blisters at this point. Her pants were also uncomfortable as they cut into her waist. They hadn't stopped since the hour break they took the night before, and at least he was staying under the cover of the leaves, so they weren't exposed to the sun. But it didn't help with how thirsty she was, and the fact that she knew she needed to eat. Her child needed those things as much as she did. She had to keep playing a coward though, nothing else mattered but her survival and the survival of the baby, and she'd let her feet bleed and her skin get burnt to make sure that happened. She swallowed hard, her voice shaking, "Michael, please."

"Shut up." He told her as he pulled her along with the chain.

"I need water. And something to eat." She told him, "You do too. We'll die at this rate."

"Shut up!" He yelled yanking the chain making her fall forward onto the ground, but she caught herself with her elbows, making sure there was no impact to her stomach. She didn't move very fast on getting up, she wanted him to think she was weaker than she was, she needed food and water and whatever it took to get them she would have to do. She struggled to get up with her bound hands, so he grabbed her by the hair and she quietly cried out in pain as he lifted her up by it, his gun going to her chin, face inches from hers, "We're not dying anytime soon. We've got a long way to go together."

The thought of that truly did scare her and her eyes watered, "Where are you taking me?"

"Back to the beginning. You should have died in that place." He tightened his grip on her hair. She could go for his gun, but she didn't know how many bullets were in there and she couldn't see if the safety was off. She could accidently shoot herself in the head. Her jaw quivered as he moved in closer on her, she hated him so much, she hated how close he was to her, how close he was to her baby. His voice was low, his breath on her cheek, "You're not dying for a very long time."

"Then at least give me something to drink." She begged, "It's been a day."

"Fucking fine you stupid bitch." He yanked a bottle out of his bag and threw it on the ground letting go of her hair at the same time. She scrambled to the bottle, her hands shaky as she managed to get the top off while they were still hooked together. She took a sip of the warm water, but it was water and that's all that mattered. He took his own bottle out and gulped it before telling her, "I'd hold on to that. It's all you get for the next few days."

Then he yanked the chain again as they kept going.

* * *

Negan swung the door open to the cell, barreling in on Brad, grabbing him by the collar and slamming him against the wall, "Where's he taking her!"

"What the fuck are you talking about old man!?" Bran tried to put his arms up, but the fact that he had no hands did nothing to stop Negans strength.

"Michael." Negan got right up in his face, towering over the other man, "Where the fuck is he taking my niece?"

"Michaels alive?" Brad smirked.

"Get that shit off your face!" Negan slammed him into the wall again, "Where the fuck are they going?!"

"I don't know! I thought that he was dead!" Brad told him, "If he's got that little bitch, you're never going to find them. He's going to do anything and everything to fuck her up and make her beg to be killed. He's going to break her five ways from Sunday."

Negan let out a yell, punching Brad across the face, knocking him to the ground, "I don't have time for your shit!"

Storming out of the jail house he stopped when he saw Victoria holding Jacob in her arms, looking at Negan with scared eyes, "Somethings happened hasn't it?" He didn't answer her, "What can I do?"

"Unless you know where Michaels taken Ren, nothing." He sighed defeated, if the two kept moving at the pace they were, Daryl and Sera would never catch up with them. He knew their best bet was to cut them off somewhere.

"I don't know where he's taking her," She adjusted how she was holding her son, "but I know that after Ren started taking down the others and it was just us left, Michael made the rule to stay off of main roads, that back roads were the only way we were allowed to travel."

Negan realized if he still stuck to that then it would narrow down the roads for them to patrol. He looked at the girl, thanks in his eyes, "That'll help. Thank you, Victoria."

"It's the least I could do." She smiled at him as he ran off to tell Rick who was mobilizing a search effort.

* * *

Ren held onto hope as the moon was coming up that the others had found the car wreck and that they were searching for her. She knew Daryl wouldn't rest until he found her, it made her worried about him despite the situation she found herself in. Michael had stopped again, she knew she didn't have long while he rested, because she needed the rest too, she was exhausted by this point. But she had to leave them some kind of note as to where they were going.

Sliding the knife from her boot she moved to her side and started etching into the side of the tree. She got as far as UT before the knife was yanked from her hand and tossed to the side. Ren was grabbed by her throat and slammed against the tree, her hands wrapping around Michaels wrist trying to get him to stop, as she could hear her blood pumping in her ears from his tight grip. His face was close to hers, red with rage as he held her there, "You leaving fucking notes? You think that someone will find you? You better hope they don't because if they do, I'm going to kill them slowly, skin them from bottom to top right in front of you. I'll tape your goddamn eyes open, so you have no choice but to watch. I thought you were actually starting to come around, behave how you were supposed to. But clearly you still have some bitch in you."

He let go of her throat and she was able to take in a deep breath before he back handed her. She tasted blood in her mouth, and he hit her again, knocking her to the ground this time. Finding her water bottle he took the lid off and poured it out right next to her head and she watched it all go to waste. He chucked the plastic to the ground, "Should have behaved. Now you'll have to go without any."

Untying the chain from the tree he started walking again, not waiting for her to get up. Her knees got scraped up as she tried to get up with him dragging her along, the handcuffs cutting into her wrists. She was in deep shit now and she knew it, but at least he didn't know she was pregnant.

* * *

 **A/N: Holy crap I can't believe I'm almost to 50 chapters already...I feel like I just started writing this but it's actually been like two months! Be sure to leave me a review and let me know what you think :)**


	50. Chapter 50

Sera had managed to convince Daryl to take a little break, just sit down for a moment, so they could figure out what to do. It had rained the night before, they'd lost the tracks and Thor was trying to find her scent again. At least they knew the two of them were heading west, they'd found Rens note for Utah. But Daryl had become panicked when he saw signs of a struggle and someone being dragged. It'd been three days since then. They'd blocked off all the roads, used as much gas as they could find, hell they even brought ethanol fuel to power them, gotten horses out to search. But they still hadn't run into them.

"Any luck finding their tracks?" Ricks voice came through the walkie.

Daryl didn't know what to do. This was the one thing he was good at. Tracking things, and he had lost her and not even on a paved road. He'd lost her in a forest. He'd never been so scared in his life. He snapped on people, he hadn't slept in days, because it didn't seem like she had either. He wished she would, it would keep her strong, but he knew she was protecting their child, he knew her well enough to know that she would do that above anything else. His eyes just scanned the ground, looking for anything that would put him on her path again.

Sera grabbed the walkie, realizing that Daryl probably hadn't even heard it, he was to focused on Ren. "No luck yet, Thor is smelling for her. Anything on your end?"

"No. But we're going to find her. If they keep up the pace, they're going he's going to need to stop and get more supplies somewhere." Rick replied, "There's no way he could carry more than a weeks' worth of stuff on him."

Daryl got up from where Sera had made him sit, "That's only if he's sharin with her. If he ain't it'll last longer. C'mon, we gotta move."

"We're on the move again." Sera radioed.

"Dog!" Daryl yelled and Thor came running over to him. He knelt down to the dog, "Find somethin'."

Thor barked at him then ran off, sniffing the ground again as he went. They kept moving west, hoping that they would find tracks from when the rain had stopped. They walked for about an hour before Thor started barking ahead of them. Daryl ran to the animal and knelt down to where he was standing by. It was a tree and he could see where something had been tied around it. Looking closer at the ground there was a pile of leaves over something and he moved them away to see dry ground underneath it. Tears formed in his eyes as he saw what had been written into the earth.

 _Daryl hurry._

He fell backwards, his body crumbling and Sera rushed to his side, an arm going around his shoulders, "We're going to find her. We're still on their trail."

"What's he doin to her?" Daryl couldn't stop himself from saying the thing he'd been wondering since the very beginning.

"I…I don't know." Sera answered him honestly. She turned him to face her, "But we can't stop, we can't worry about anything like that, we just have to find her. Anytime our minds leave that we get further away from them." She held his shoulders, "I know this might not be what you want to hear but…the breaks they're taking are to short for Michael to be doing anything…really bad to her. He used to spend hours on end in that cell with her…out here he has to survive just as much as we've been, and he doesn't have the time to do the really bad stuff."

"The baby." His voice cracked, knowing that she was probably suffering so much to keep their baby safe. "How long until…"

"Look, I know her pants were getting tight, but it's only been a few days, she won't start showing that fast." Sera tried to reassure him despite the fact she didn't know what Ren's body was going to do this far along, she'd never been this far along before, "We're going to find her before he finds out and we're going to take her to the doctor and he's going to tell the both of you that the little one inside of her is just fine. Because we both know Ren would never let anything happen to it. She's staying strong because of your guys' baby, she's waiting for us to find her." Sera pointed at the writing in the ground, "She needs us to move faster. I won't tell you to take anymore breaks because I want my hermana back and I want that fucker dead."

"Yeah." Daryl said standing up then looked at Thor, "Good dog, do it again."

And Thor was off finding her scent and tracks again.

* * *

She was hungry and thirsty. The rain had been helping with the latter though. She was able to cup her hands and catch some water to drink. The rain had made her walking uncomfortable, the tight pants even tighter now, chaffing her thighs. She had managed to sneak her hair tie around the button of her pants to give her waist extra space, so she wasn't confining the baby too much. Michael had yet to notice it, not caring that her hair was down now. She had scrapes and bruises from him dragging her along most of the time now, her face bruised from him hitting her. She hadn't had anything to eat except for a few leaves she recognized from when Daryl was teaching her how to track and hunt.

They stopped to rest for their normal hour, and she tried to sleep but the water pelting them with her added hunger kept her awake. She looked at the ground and swallowed hard. Unable to believe what she was about to do she still did it. The baby needed her to eat and she needed the food to keep her strength, not knowing how long this punishment from Michael would be. Digging the worms out of the ground that she saw squirming, she lifted one into her mouth and swallowed it hole. The wriggling made her almost gag, but she forced herself to keep it down. The others she ended up chewing just so it didn't make her sick. She ate as many as she could find.

* * *

Negan and Rick had joined up with Daryl and Sera to give them more supplies and help them search through the mud. Rick told them, "We have eyes on every road, we're far from home but they're out looking for supplies too so we don't have to waste gas."

"Where are we at now?" Sera asked.

"Ohio." Rick answered.

"Seems like he's staying to the forest," Negan added, "We've gone ahead of where they should cross roads and haven't run into them yet, but we know at some point we're going to have to find them."

"Easier to find their tracks and for the dog to smell her in the forest." Daryl said, "We'll catch up soon."

Negan had to give Daryl credit. He'd been out there every day, not sleeping, not stopping, constantly on Rens trail. It was more than anyone else had done, they'd taken shifts, slept in cars, even Sera had needed a day to just recover from what was going on, but not Daryl. He pushed through, refusing to stop until he found her and their child. As they walked Negan went up to him, "I'm sorry."

"Why?" Daryl kept his eyes on the ground, on the tracks that were filled with water, she was either walking heavier to keep the tracks visible in the rain, or when was having problems walking…or both.

"Because I was an ass to you at first about being with Ren…I was pissed when I found out you'd gotten her pregnant." Negan hated apologizing or admitting he was wrong. "You clearly do care about her and you're more than good enough for my niece."

"Thanks." Daryl didn't really care, all he cared about was finding Ren and even if this was being said without her being missing, he still wouldn't have cared because what Ren thought was all that mattered to him.

"Daryl." Negan stopped him and made him look at him, "You're going to find her. If anyone out here is, it's going to be you. I want to find her so damn bad but you're better at this than I am, then I'll ever be." The mans voice shook, "You found her the first time and brought her home. You can do it again."

"Nah." He shook his head, "She found me."

"I think we found something." Carol's voice came over the radio.

"What is it?" Rick asked.

"Truck stop that was broken into." She answered, "There's a note on the desk. Ren signed it."

Daryl took the walkie from Rick, "What's it say?"

"Only resting an hour a night. No food or water for me. Sticking to the forest for another few days now. Please, hurry. Everything hurts." Carol told them.

"Where you at?"

"About two miles a head of your position I think."

"We're coming to you." Daryl said then handed the walkie back to Rick, "We start from there we could make up for some time."

"Let's get to the cars." Rick wasn't even finished talking before Daryl was running towards where he knew the cars were.

When they got to the truck stop Daryl started looking for her tracks while Thor tried to pick up her scent. The note was clutched tightly in his hands. He was going to find them. He was going to find her and their child, everything was going to be okay. That's what he had to keep telling himself. Thor started barking and he ran over to where the dog was, seeing clearly defined tracks in the dirt. He smiled, "Hold on Ren, I'm comin."

* * *

 **A/N: It's so hard to write an upset Daryl, but in a situation like this I think he would crack a little bit and be upset and worried about Ren. Be sure to let me know what you guys are thinking! I love your reviews :3**


	51. Chapter 51

Every muscle hurt, her throat was dry and her stomach empty. The rain poured down in sheets above them making them uncomfortable in their clothes. Michael had stopped and she fell to the ground, glad for the rest despite him tying her to the tree. Ren crawled to it, leaning against the trunk for support. She could barely keep her eyes open not that she wanted too. All she wanted was sleep, food, and water. With her eyes closed she opened her mouth slightly, rain drops falling into it and sliding down her throat.

It felt like she had just started getting rest when she was yanked up by her bloody and sore wrists. She couldn't stand though, her feet couldn't take the weight, her legs were shaky and weak. Michael growled, "Get up! It's time to go."

"I can't." She said despite still trying to stand up.

"You stupid bitch!" He wound his leg back, aiming for her stomach.

"No!" Survival activated in her brain and she moved her hands in front of her belly, and when his foot made contact, she pushed it away, it instead meeting her hip where she still had a bruise from the seatbelt. She cried out in pain at the contact, her body felt like glass ready to shatter.

* * *

Daryl and Thor were trekking through the rain, he'd refused to stop moving, though he understood the others need for rest. If Ren didn't rest, neither would he, not even for an hour. Thor let out a bark then started running at full speed through the woods.

* * *

"Fighting back finally, huh?" Michael asked. "Why now?"

"Please," She still lacked energy despite being ready to fight him, "Stop."

He grabbed her by the hair again and when she lifted her hands to try and stop him, her shirt went up due to its wetness and he looked, seeing the hairband that was extending the waistband of her jeans. A wicked smile came across his face, "You're pregnant? Again? Man, you just can't keep those legs closed can you."

"Stop it!" She pushed him away, her hands immediate going in front of her stomach to keep it protected despite her cuffs. He pulled his gun.

"I wonder how far you're willing to go to protect that baby." He said, "What would you do?" She swallowed hard, she would do anything for her child, and he could see the look on her face that said that. He had an open-mouthed smile, "On your knees."

Her heart was beating fast, a bile building in her throat as she slowly and shakily got down on her knees. She'd been waiting for this, for him to do something like this. Her breathing increased in pace and she tried to think of ways to get the gun away from him before he did anything. Michael walked around her, making her anxiety grow as he spoke.

"I know everything we did was for science back then, but I have to admit, I really enjoyed what we did." He said, "Consensual was nice, you know? Like that little girl who tried to save her mom. What was her name? Valerie…no, Veronica? Vanessa!"

"Victoria." Ren corrected him, this seemed like it was going to end tonight, and she wasn't going to put up with his belittlement of anyone. She was going to find out how to kill him and go home. Take the same route back that they had on their way there. Find Daryl in a day hopefully, and he would take her home.

"Right! That one. There are so many I forget sometimes," He pointed the gun at her as he knelt down in front of her, "As I was saying, consensual is good but there's nothing like having that power. Being the one in complete control. That's what I had before you fucked all of it up. I'm going to keep you alive until we get to Utah…but what should I do about this baby situation…How far along are you?"

"Ten weeks." She lied, she was at least thirteen at that point. She had only been allowed to go to twelve.

He whacked her across the face with the gun, busting her lip even more, "Liar! You never had issues with your pants before."

"I was in shorts that stretched." She told him, blood filling and dripping from her mouth, "And I was eating well before you took me."

"Hmm. Only ten weeks then." He stood back up, "Wouldn't be any fun to cut something that small out of you. Plus it could kill you. I'm sure it would slow me down, but I could always carry you." He muttered the last part to himself, "Let's see what strength you have left."

He raised his leg again to kick her, but she fell to the ground as he tried, his foot avoiding her completely this time. When he swung for her stomach another time, she blocked him again with her hands, then used the links between the cuffs to wrap around his ankle, pulling him off balance and he fell to the ground. She tried to get to the gun that was still gripped in his hand, but he got on top of her first, attempting to punch her in the stomach but she managed to use the cuffs to divert him. She felt hits on her shoulder, chest, and even one on her neck, which could have killed her if he'd hit straight on, but it only grazed down the side due to his angle. She couldn't fight him properly with the cuffs on and with how tired she was.

The man was ripped off of her and the sound of growling entered her ears as she saw Michael writhing and screaming on the ground now, Thor on top of him. The smile on her face was instantaneous. It also meant that Daryl was close too.

Scooting on the ground she made it to where Thor was biting into the man's flesh and she got to where the gun was, and she slammed her wrists down on his hand making him cry out even more as he let go of the weapon. She took it in her hands and made sure the safety was off before aiming it at the man. Calling out for Thor the dog got off of him and as Michael, bloody and in shreds, tried to stand up she unloaded the remaining bullets into him.

Thor rushed over to her as the man laid dead and whined, licking her face, making sure his owner was safe. She laughed and pet his head, tears in her eyes, "You're such a good boy! Yes, you are. So goddamn good."

She heard the sound of someone running and when it stopped, she looked up and saw Daryl looking down at her. She was alive, she was covered in blood, old and new, mud, dried and wet, and her hair was matted down and sticking to her face in the rain, but she was alive, and she was looking at him, a mix of relief in her eyes, but he could see her shattering. Reaching out to him, she realized she couldn't stand, her body officially done after her fight with Michael.

He ran to her. Scooping her into his arms he landed on the ground as she folded into him, tears falling from her eyes. He held her tight as her body shook and her cries intensified, his own tears streaming, but he wouldn't let her see those, not yet, this time was for her, she needed the release.

Ren clutched at his shirt, hands not able to go around him, but he held her tight regardless, hand cradling her head as she sobbed against him. Everything about him being there, his scent, his hair, the way he held her, everything made her feel safe. Thor stood, standing watch over his two parents in the dead of night during the rain to make sure they weren't snuck up on by any munchers due to the gunshots that had rung off into the forest.

She pulled away from him, wanting to see him up close, make sure he was real and not just a sick dream. Her fingers explored his cheeks as she saw tears in his beautiful blue eyes as they took her in. She had blood going down her chin, a scab on her head from the car wreck, bruises on her cheek and around her eye along with some scratches. He could see the tears streaming down her face despite the rain and her broken breath was enough to break his heart as she asked, "Can we go home now?"

He nodded quickly, cupping her face, "Yeah, we can go home."

He tried to help her up, but she just collapsed into his arms, letting out a cry of pain. She told him, tears still in her eyes, "It hurts."

Daryl helped her back to the ground and looked her over, making sure she didn't have any wounds on her legs, but with how much they'd been walking he was sure that the pain wasn't something that was visible. She leaned her head on his shoulder while he looked her over. He saw her boots. The soles had broken, cracked in multiple places. He reached for the zipper and lowered them. He didn't need to take them off to see the blood that soaked her socks. With the rain she must not have known that she had been walking in pools of her own blood.

He zipped them back up but before he could pick her up the sound of Thor growling him alerted him to the sound of a walker groaning. Grabbing his bow, he shot it through the head and knew that others would be coming soon. Picking her up bridal style feeling her grip at his shirt, he held her tight, pressing his lips to the top of her head, "I've got you." He looked at the dog, "Lead us back."

Thor started walking and Daryl followed, the chain connected to her cuffs dragging behind them. Soon they were coming out of the trees and onto a road where there were people in cars asleep, and people on watch. Sera was one of them and her voice woke those that were sleeping as she yelled, "Ren!"

Running to her friend she wrapped her arms around the girl, despite Daryl holding her, none of the three of them cared as Ren did her best to hug her back. Negan got out of the car he had been trying to sleep in and saw her in Daryl arms, her frame bloodied and bruised, and he made his way to her. Daryl respected their family enough to allow him to pull Ren from his arms as Negan held her tight, arm under her butt, keeping her supported as he cradled her in his arms. Her uncles voice cracked, "We were so worried about you. We looked so hard. Daryl…Daryl never stopped. Not even when we told him to take a break, he never stopped moving."

Ren was crying again as her uncle held her tight. It hurt, the injuries and bruises stung and throbbed in his grasp, but it was no different to how he would hold her when she scraped her knee, or when fell from her bike, no different than the day her mother had died or when her father had his accident. He held her like he always had. And he asked what he always asked, but there was more to it, "Are you okay? Both of you?"

"I don't know." She cried, not caring that he knew, she should have known that word would have gotten out some how with Sera and Nessa involved. Or with how scared Daryl had probably been. They probably had to tell when someone had asked why she didn't fight back and escape, because it had been the reason.

Rick had come over with an umbrella, Carol behind him and Rick said, "Let's get her on the back of the truck."

Negan nodded and Daryl went with them. Thor jumped into the back of the truck before Ren was sat down and his head went to rest on her lap in an instant. He'd missed his owner as much as she'd missed him it seemed. Daryl sat down next to her, an arm around her as Negan took the umbrella from Rick so he could look at the cuffs. Ren knew he didn't have a key for them but since he'd been a police officer he probably knew another way to get them off. While he looked, her voice was quiet as she asked, "Can I have some water?"

"Yeah." Daryl jumped from the bed of the truck, but Carol stopped him.

"I'll get it." She told him with a concerned smile, "You should stay with her."

"Alright." He replied but then grabbed her arm, "She needs bandages too…for her feet."

"I'll get those too then." Carol headed off after giving his arm a supportive squeeze. Daryl went back over to the truck, sitting next to her again as Rick worked on the cuffs. Carol was returning by the time he got the first one off. She handed Ren the water bottle, and then a protein bar, "I know it's not much, but you shouldn't eat too much right away."

"Thank you." Ren answered, taking the two things. Her free hand shook as she tried to open the bottle and Daryl helped her with that, watching as she took sips of it, before he opened the packaging to the bar. She took small bites, her mouth hurting from the hits she'd taken, but none of her teeth were loose at least. When Rick was done with the second cuff he moved out of the way as Carol came over with a first aid kit.

"I may not be Saddiq, but I can take care of you until we get you back to him, okay?" The woman gave her a warm smile and Ren nodded, her head leaning against Daryls shoulder as she ate her protein bar, her other hand now petting Thors head. Carol carefully unzipped her boots and she felt so bad for the girl as she saw her soaked socks. She wasn't sure what color they had been before, but now they were stained a dark red. Slowly taking off the boots she heard Ren whimper slightly from the pain. Carol knew the worst was yet to come though, "I'm going to try and be gentle."

"It's okay." Ren said before taking Daryls hand. Negan tried not to cry as his niece bit back a cry as Carol took her socks off. Her hand gripped Daryls as tight as it could. Carol herself tried not to tear up seeing the extent of the girl's feet. Blisters had busted and torn open, skin was peeling away, it was going to take a lot for this to heal. She placed clean cloths to the bottoms of her feet before wrapping them with gauze to keep them there.

When Carol was done, she left the three alone. Negan didn't know what to say, didn't know what to ask, the two of them had never been in a situation like this before and he never thought that they would have been. He tried to think of every lesson he'd learned working in a high school. Hell, he'd been able to help the other girls, but Ren…she was his girl. He noticed her hand ghost over her stomach, and he wasn't sure what to ask, should he be happy about the baby, or worried about the baby's health? What would she prefer?

"You wanna see Saddiq?" Daryl beat him to it.

Looking up at him her eyes wide and scared at first but then taken over by sadness. What if she hadn't eaten enough in the past week? What if the over exertion was too much? What if…what if she hadn't protected the baby well enough from Michael. She didn't want to know the answer to any of those, but she wanted to know if the baby was alright. She nodded, "Yeah."

"C'mon." Daryl moved to pick her back up and this time she wrapped an arm around his shoulder, finally being able too. Negan made sure to cover her feet with the umbrella, so the bandages didn't get wet as Daryl took her to a car. He set her inside and Thor jumped into the back with her, protecting and comforting her still.

He went to shut the door, but Negan stopped him, shaking his head, "You stay back there with her. I'll drive."

"Thanks." Daryl gave him a half nod before getting into the back seat with her. It was just the two of them and the dog in the car as Negan checked with Rick and the others on them preparing to leave.

"Can I sleep?" Her soft voice entered his ears.

"Ren." He looked down at her and she looked at him, her eyes wide and clearly wanting to close but they were stuck open, red from the tears she no longer cried. "You ain't gotta ask permission. For anythin."

"I'm not." She told him, her tone remaining the same. She was in shock, "I was wondering if I really can…if I'm not in the dream already."

He cupped her face, thumb running over her bruised cheek, "You're not. You're safe. And you have plenty of time to sleep on the drive, it'll be a few hours before we get to Alexandria."

"Where…where are we?" She wasn't sure how long they had walked, maybe it had been shorter than it felt…or longer.

"Just past Dayton, in Ohio." He told her. She didn't look shocked, she didn't really react at all other than nodding her head slightly. Looking away from him she looked around the back seat for a moment before snapping for Thor to get on the floor of the car. Slowly and gently she moved over in the seat, away from Daryl and he wasn't sure what she was doing until she put her head in his lap. Reaching into the front seat he grabbed a discarded jacket and laid it over her as Thor jumped back onto the seat to lay the length of her body.

Daryl put his arm over her, his fingers gently combing her hair as he watched her eyelids get heavy and she fell asleep.

* * *

 **A/N: I really wanted there to be more done in the way of death for Michael, but it just wasnt possible with the state Ren was in. But I did want the dog to rip him up haha. Let me know what you guys think about the rescue!**


	52. Chapter 52

She slept pretty much the whole drive, even during stops to refuel. Daryl had seen her wake up about an hour before they got to Alexandria, but she didn't move, her head remaining on his lap, fingers toying with the loose fabric of his pants.

The car ride was silent. Neither Daryl nor Negan wanted to ask what had happened out there, fearing the answer was something neither of them could bear to hear, but they both knew she wasn't the type to talk about it unless asked. Once they were inside the gates Ren finally say up, seeing the familiar sight, the one that had scared her the first time she saw it, but now it was more comforting than she had ever thought it would be.

Daryl got out of the car first and she carefully slid out, trying to put as little pressure on her feet as possible. He picked her up again and carried her to Saddiqs house, knowing that before anywhere else, this is where she wanted to go. This was another thing he feared, what they would learn on the ultrasound. He knew she was scared of it too, even more than he was.

Saddiq tried to make it easy for them though, knowing Ren already had fears about the pregnancy due to what had been done to her previously, and now with this he knew she would be even more worried. He looked over all of her injuries first and told her, "It'd be easier to bandage everything after you've taken a shower and cleaned all the wounds, none are deep enough to need stitches that I can see, but I want to get a better look at where the bullet hit you later, but it should be fine too. That okay?"

She nodded, perhaps out of all of this the main thing she was worried about was getting an infection from being out in the mud and rain with so many cuts. Her main focus was on her baby though. When she lifted her shirt up to show her belly, Daryl could see the bruise on her hip and that made him more worried, Maggie had gotten a similar injury and had a complication. He took her hand as Saddiq cleaned the skin of her stomach before putting the gel on it. Saddiq had turned the screen away from them, knowing that if something looked different than before, it would scare both of them immediately.

She gripped his hand tight as the probe touched her stomach. She thought last time was bad, this time she could feel her heart stop beating. Daryl watched Saddiq since Ren was looking at the ground, her whole body tense despite it's exhaustion. He watched as the mans face studied the screen, the probe moving around her stomach and he felt his chest unclench slightly as the man smiled.

"Still looks as good as the day we first saw the little guy." Saddiq told them then flipped the switch and Ren heard the baby's heartbeat. She looked up and he turned the screen so they could see it.

A smile managed to form on her face as she asked, "The baby's okay?"

"Yeah." Saddiq reassured her, "You did a good job out there, much better than you think." He gave her arm a supportive squeeze and told her, "I'm going to rewrap your feet so you can take a shower, you don't want to take a bath because the wounds shouldn't be submerged just yet. Okay?"

"Alright." She answered as the doctor got up and left to go and get new bandages for her feet. Ren looked down at her stomach, her hand resting just above it, "Our baby's okay."

"Had you to look after 'em." Daryl told her, "And he's right, whatever…" Daryls voice trailed off, "Whatever happened out there, you did good."

* * *

Once they were done at Saddiqs, he took her to the bathroom in the house, setting her down, watching her stand despite knowing how much it must hurt. Rick and Michonne had taken Judith to play with the other kids so that Ren would have time away from everyone to clean herself and recover from her kidnapping. After turning the water on for the shower, Daryl carefully took the jacket off of her and then from there lifted the dirt and bloodstained shirt off of her. Saddiq had said he would bring things by for them to treat her wounds, and so he looked her over, seeing the cuts on her wrists from the handcuffs, the broken lip, bruised eye, scratches on her hands and arms from being dragged across the ground, the wound where the bullet had grazed her arm, bruising on her neck, chest, and shoulders, nothing whatsoever on her stomach though. She had let the rest of her body take the punishment to spare her child it. She just stood there as Daryl's fingers searched her skin for every mark.

Taking off her pants there were less marks. A bruise on her hip, scratches on her knees, he didn't need to look at her already bandaged feet, he knew how bloodied and blistered they were. After checking the heat of the water and adjusting it slightly he moved back to her, seeing her eyes on the ground, not looking at him. He took her hand and kissed her wrists where the cuts were, "You're safe."

"I know." Her voice was low.

"I ain't goin nowhere." He told her as he reached around her to unhook her bra, "I promise."

Ren nodded, she knew he was telling the truth, and she believed him. He slid her underwear down and she stepped out of them before he held open the shower curtain for her. Carefully she stepped inside, and the warm water felt amazing on her tired muscles. She could feel the dirt and blood and horror from the past week sliding off of her.

Daryl could see through the curtain that she wasn't moving. She was just standing under the water. He knew she was tired, he knew she was sore, he was too, but she was the one thing that mattered, and he wanted her to be taken care of, he wanted to take care of her.

She heard the curtain move and looked over her shoulder slightly to see him, now naked, stepping into the shower too, which is honestly what she'd wanted, him to be close to her still. Again, she didn't move, but she smiled as she felt his hands on her shoulders, covered in suds as he began to wash her. His hands massaged her soreness and he felt her start to relax more. He washed her back and down her legs, wrapping his arms around her to wash her chest and stomach, his hand lingered there as he kissed the back of her shoulder.

She turned to face him, her arms curled in between them, hands on his chest as she tucked her head under his chin. Daryl couldn't stop himself from wrapping his arms around her, his hand running down her hair as the water fell over them. Her voice was soft and shook as she asked, "It's really over this time…isn't it?"

"Yeah." He told her, "He's dead. He ain't ever gunna hurt you again. None of them will."

She didn't move from her spot, she felt safe again in his arms, and she didn't want to let that go, not yet. "I'm so glad I found you."

Daryl leaned down and used his forehead to lift hers up, not wanting to move his hands from around her. He pressed his forehead to hers and his voice cracked as he said, "I'd be dead without you."

"Me too." She replied, her eyes looking into his, "The stupidest thing I've ever done led to the best thing in my life."

Leaning down he kissed her for the first time in a week. She moved the wet hair from his face as they kissed, her fingers combing through it. His hand fell to her waist, his thumb running over the skin of her stomach. He whispered on her lips, "I was so scared…if I'd lost either of you…I don know what I'd do."

"I'd do anything to stay alive and get back to you." She told him, tears forming in her eyes, "I refused to die or let anything happen to our baby. I did what I thought was right, I cowered to him, I acted how he had always wanted me too, knowing that you'd find me. And you did."

"I woulda never stopped lookin." He said, his voice shaking.

"I know." She smiled at him. Reaching down she took the soap, lathering it in her hands. She started to wash his chest, but he gently stopped her.

"Ren, you don-"

She cut him off, "You were out there just as long as I was."

He couldn't tell her no, so he let her wash him. Turning around he felt her fingertips gliding along his back, her touch always sending shivers down his spine, always gentle over his scars. As the water washed the suds off of him, she placed her lips to his skin. She finally told him, the thing she knew he was so scared about asking, "He didn't do anything."

Daryl turned around to look at her, his eyes wide, lip quivering, "Really?"

"Yeah." She nodded, "I don't know why, but he didn't. Maybe it was time, or because we were outside, but he didn't do anything like that."

He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight as she hugged him back gently. He couldn't stop his words, his voices shaking, "I woulda hated myself if he touched you. I already do for all of this, for not bein with you. For lettin you go alone. I'm so sorry."

"Don't." She cradled his head against her shoulder, "You didn't do anything wrong. We all thought he was dead. I'm…I'm the one that said he was dead. None of this is on you. It's on him for not realizing that he'd lost, for thinking he could still try and break me. So please don't hate yourself, not when I love you so much."

He kissed her again, his fingers holding her tight. Daryl knew that since she was clean now he should take care of all of her wounds, but he didn't want to stop kissing her, deep down inside of him he had been afraid that he never would again. Slowly he stopped, his hand reaching to turn off the water before grabbing a towel to wrap her in. He put one around himself just in case someone came into the house but then he picked her back up and carried her to the bedroom, setting her down on the bed before going downstairs to get the bag Saddiq had already dropped off.

Returning to the room Daryl carefully wrapped her wrists, cleaning scratches and placing bandages over the bigger ones. Before each bandage though he would kiss the wound and the bruises surrounding it, replacing every unwanted touch she had endured with one of his own.

* * *

It took about a week, but she was able to walk with almost no pain now. Her stomach was slightly bigger now, but the pants Maggie had let her have helped a lot, so did the shirt she stole from Daryl in hiding it as she opened the door to the prison house. She leaned on the wall and stared into the cell at Brad, sitting on the ground. Her arms crossed she said, "Hear you've been asking to talk to me."

"Out there for a week with Michael…Since he's not here, I'm assuming he's dead." Brad stepped closer to the cell door.

"As a doornail." She replied, "What did you want?"

"I wanted to know if you enjoyed it." He shrugged, "Liked the time you spent with him. I know how much you used to enjoy it before."

She let out a slight laugh. Ren had thought the recovery would have been harder, as hard as it was before. But it hadn't been, she didn't have nightmares every night, instead Daryl held her. She wasn't alone like before, she was surrounded by her friends, her family. And this time she was surviving, more than that, she was thriving, all of them were. She kept the smirk as she stepped towards the door as well, "That's not what you wanted. What you wanted was to piss me off so I would kill you."

"I'm surprised you haven't already." He told her.

"I'm not going to. Because your existence, in this cell, it doesn't do diddly squat to me. You have no power over me. None of you do, over any of us anymore." She shrugged, "So if you want to die so bad instead of being in this _cage_ , stop being a goddamn coward and do it yourself. You always were the biggest wimp out of all of them."

Turning to leave she ignored his calls after her, his pleas to kill him veiled as insults. She smiled as she walked out of the house to see Daryl waiting for her, having come to make sure nothing happened. "You good?"

"Yeah, perfectly fine." She smiled at him, putting her arm around his as they started walking.

"That my shirt?"

"Smells like you. Makes me happy." She answered with a grin up to him.

* * *

 **A/N: Okay guys so I'm going to need a couple of days to do the next part just because my life exploded. I almost didn't get this one out. But it will be out soon (hopefully no more than two days). We're on the home stretch too! I could add more if I wanted I'm sure, but I'm kinda thinking that these two have been through a lot by this point and they deserve a rest haha...but if I get a wild hair they might not. But anyways, I'm rambling, so let me know what you think!**


	53. Chapter 53

As she woke up, she already knew Daryl was awake. Him waking up a lot earlier than her now was becoming more common during her pregnancy as her body just wanted her to sleep. She could feel his thumb running over her stomach, the bump to the point where even in his shirts people could see it, but it wasn't big enough to keep her from bending over yet, but it would be soon. Smiling, she nuzzled into his chest behind her, "Morning."

"You're awake early." He replied before kissing her shoulder.

"I used to wake up earlier than this." She told him, "Just not recently."

"Mmhmm." He let her have it. He slid his arm slightly above her stomach, so he didn't press on it as he pulled her tighter to him, cuddling her close. When she tensed and let out a slight gasp at his arm hitting her breasts, he looked over her shoulder, slightly concerned at the noise, but he knew what kind of gasp that was, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She reassured him, then chose her words carefully, knowing that when she got too scientific and technical about the pregnancy, he made fun of her, "My chest has just been…kind of tender…and more sensitive the past few days…"

"Yeah?" He smiled against her hair, the past few weeks she'd wanted almost nothing to do with him, the discomfort of her body changing, not being in the mood at all, and jokingly blaming him for all of it. His hand moved to a mound and gently squeezed it, Ren letting out a slight gasp at this. He began massaging it through the fabric of her top and asked, "Feel okay?"

"Yeah." Was all she could breath out, it felt much more than okay, her nipples starting to harden just from this small action. Ren could also feel herself getting wet, and she was very glad now of the fact she had woken up early.

As Daryl rolled her on her other side to face him, he had to admit he missed her wearing button downs to bed, but none of them fit anymore. He kissed her deep and quick, he had been alright that they weren't having sex as often, but that didn't stop him from wanting to take the chance while he had it. His thumb ran over the hard bud on her chest and she let out a moan into his mouth. It felt like it'd been so long since he'd heard her make that noise that he wanted more of it. He kissed down her neck while lifting her shirt up and once he revealed her breast his mouth was on it.

She let out a pleasure filled gasp, her fingers clutching at him, tangling in his hair, as he sucked, licked, and nipped at her sensitive skin. The heat between her legs was building quickly and she wasn't sure if it was possible for her to cum just from his mouth doing what it was, but it sure felt like it. She could feel him through his pants, pressing against her thigh and reached down, undoing the buttons.

Feeling her hand around him, his urgency for her grew and he pulled her shorts and underwear down in one swift movement before hiking her leg over his hip. Letting go of her nipple, his mouth returned to hers as he pushed into her. He gripped at her skin as he thrusted into her, her hands on his neck and shoulders, their tongues meeting and caressing each other passionately. She came very soon after him entering her and he was a little surprised considering how she hadn't been in the mood for quite a while, but he wasn't complaining as she moaned his name into his mouth.

Wanting more she pushed him onto his back, straddling him so he was all the way inside of her. This time he moaned, gripping her hips as she rode him. It wasn't very often that she took the reigns but when she did, he loved the view. He reached up, taking her shirt completely off and moved in time with her, watching as her lip went between her teeth. She was trying to stay as quiet as she could with her uncle just a few rooms down. Sitting up he put his lips back to her breast making her gasp loudly as he sucked.

Her nails gripped at his shirt and it wasn't what she wanted. Reaching down she unbuttoned the piece of clothing before pushing it off of him, her hands now gripping at his bare shoulders as their hips moved against each other. He felt her tighten around him again, moaning as quietly as she could during her orgasm. Moving his mouth and tongue up her chest he tasted the salt on her skin from the sweat they were building.

Daryls hand was tangled in her hair as his mouth met hers again and they kissed sloppily, panting as she continued to move on top of him. He warned her, "I'm close."

"Me too." She said breathlessly. He moved a hand to cup her ass and fought off his orgasm until he felt her clench around him again and once, he couldn't hold it anymore he lifted her off of him as he came. She'd gotten better with him cuming inside of her since she was pregnant, but he knew she still didn't like it and that didn't bother him at all. She smiled, giving him a kiss, "I'm going to have to wake up early more often."

"Sure, by tonight you're gunna be tellin me not to touch you." He picked on her.

"Maybe, but after that, I doubt I'll be able to keep my hands off you." She grinned pushing him back down on the bed before climbing off of it, grabbing her sleep clothes to put back on as well as a bundle of clean ones. She gave Thor a pet on the head, "I'm going to take a shower."

"Want company?" He asked watching her get dressed.

"Wow, I must have been starving you if you're ready to go again that soon." She now picked on him.

"My mouth's always good to go." He knew how to make her blush still.

"You-uh…I mean if you want to come to the showers with me…you can." She knew her face was as red as a tomato.

"Alright." He buttoned his pants back up for the short walk to the showers and rolled off the bed, following her out, "Just don wake Negan."

"Shut up." She playfully smacked him on the shoulder. As much as she wanted to say she hated when he got like this, she actually loved it. When other people were around, he was always so serious and solemn, broody even sometimes. But when it was just them, he picked on her and smiled when he was a smart ass, they laughed together, even though his laugh wasn't much of a laugh, but she still knew it when it happened. Carol had told her that seeing Daryl with Ren when he didn't think anyone was watching that it reminded the woman of the Daryl before Negan, before Maggies sister died. Yeah, he had still been a touchy man who could be a huge dick, but he would crack jokes and spoke a lot more.

When they left the showers, Ren was already dressed so she headed to the kitchen and living area where her Uncle was already making breakfast while Daryl went to go and get dressed. The man looked over his shoulder as he heard her walking and asked, "How's my girl doing?"

"Good." She walked over to the stove, "And very hungry."

"Eating for two." Negan smiled down at her.

Plus, she'd worked up an appetite in both the bedroom and the shower, but she wasn't going to tell him that, "Yes, and this little guy knows how to eat."

"You think it's a guy then huh?" He smiled at her, "I don't know, I'm thinking it's a girl."

"It is." Daryl came out of the hallway.

"It's my body, I think I'd know what the other body inside of it is growing to be." She looked between the two men. "Want to make bets?"

"Sure." Negan turned to face her, "I bet the name."

"Uh-uh." Daryl came over, "You ain't namin shit."

"He's right that is a bit extreme." Ren couldn't help but smile, "How about…the ones that lose have to be the ones in the water when the second water wheel is installed? It should be nice and chilly by then."

"Deal." Negan put his hand out for her to shake, "Daryl, you in?"

Daryl rolled his eyes at the two of them, not wanting to partake in something like this with Negan. Ren looked up at him, "What are you chicken? It's a fifty fifty probability. Unless you do think that I know my body better."

"It's a girl." Daryl put his hand out and she shrugged her shoulders, shaking both of their hands.

"After we eat you going to be ready to go?" Negan asked putting the plates down.

"Yeah." Ren answered, "We should still be back in time to help the others on final preparations for the festival. We have to make sure that there's enough places for everyone to sleep still, and a few extras just in case."

"I'll work on it while you're gone." Daryl told her as he watched her scarf down the food.

"Thanks." She smiled up at him, "But the others will need your help more. I can handle the rooms when I get back."

"I'll help the others then work on the rooms." He looked down at her making her let out a sigh.

"You men and thinking that I can't do anything because of this." She pointed at her stomach.

Negan chuckled having finished his smaller portion already, "I'm going to go get the car ready while you two argue."

"You're guilty of it too!" She called after him before looking back to Daryl, "Seriously though it's just opening some windows, dusting, and gathering up some sheets. It's not that big of a deal."

"Still gunna help." He told her as she finished eating.

"And people say I'm stubborn." She muttered.

"You are." He put his arm around her waist, "Be careful out there today. I know he'll watch over ya but that don mean you shouldn't watch out for yourself."

"I'll be fine, it's just a short visit, some cleaning." She stepped in closer to him, a small grin on her face, "Plus, Uncle Negan will be going back to Alexandria after. Means the whole floor is ours." Her green eyes stared up at his as she got up onto her tip toes to say, "And I plan on taking full advantage of it."

Pressing her lips to his she kissed him lustfully, her teeth nipping at his bottom lip. He almost ended up putting her on the counter for a round three, but she broke away before he could. Her fingertips ghosted down his earlobe and jaw as she walked away towards the stairs. Daryl watched her as she went, wondering if this was part of the pregnancy hormones and how long it would last.

* * *

Negan and Ren pulled up to his old home and went around the back where Hammond was buried. The two of them worked on cleaning the area up, Ren wanted it to be kept nicer than it had been before she knew about it and now that she was free to do what she wanted anytime, she could keep it that way. Negan handled most of the bigger stuff, pulling weeds and carrying the bags they were in to the front yard while she worked on cleaning and fixing up the marker for his grave. While the words were still visible, the wood was also weathering from the years and she wanted to make sure that anyone that came here would know. Her child included.

After a couple of hours, they moved to the shade, Negan handing her water and a protein bar, "So have you guys talked about names yet?"

"We have but we haven't decided on anything yet." She answered him, "I think we both thought it would be easy, but nothing seems right, you know? Like how are you supposed to name something you haven't seen yet? That you don't know yet?"

"Like always you're thinking to hard about it." Negan chuckled, "That baby is going to end up the same regardless of what you name it, a badass just like it's parents who can make even the toughest son of a bitch tremble. Even when you see the kid after it's born it won't look or act like whatever you name it because it's going to be a little baby, it's going to have to grow into the name. Hammond looked nothing like a Hammond when he was born."

"What about me?" She asked.

"Oh, you were a different thing all together." He smiled, "You were a lot smaller than Hammond when he was born, he cried a lot, but not you. Your mom said you cried for a little bit but once you were in her arms after they pulled you out you stopped, already smart enough to know you were safe and loved. They'd already had Hammonds name picked out but not yours. They'd been bouncing around with a few of them, Lauren, Michelle, Riley…"

"How'd they get to Serenity then?" She looked at him.

"Easy, they didn't." Negan couldn't stop his soft smile as he pointed to the cross with Hammonds name, "He did."

"Hammond named me?"

"Yeah, he was a rambunctious kid, you can imagine. Had a lot of energy, but the moment he held you in his arms for the first time he stopped. Longest I ever saw him stay in one place up until that point." He remembered fondly, "He was sitting in the hospital room with your Aunt Lucille making sure he was careful, and he told her that when he was holding you, he felt calm and peaceful, but in the terms of a nine-year-old. Lucille, being the poetic woman she was, told him he felt a sense of serenity when he held you. He said, 'yeah, serenity.' And you opened your eyes to look at him. Your mom said naming you that was the best thing your brother ever convinced her to do, because as you grew up, you grew into that name more and more. You always made people feel at ease."

"Liar." She laughed, "I stressed my dad and brother out by going to college so early and moving across the country. I blew up a building in Utah, then…well everything since then…"

"Never said you weren't a pain in the ass, just that people feel at ease around you. Which is clear from those girls sticking with you, following your lead. And Daryl…hell I've never really seen him stay in one place all that long until he started being around you. He never just relaxed, he was always moving, always doing something for someone or getting something from somewhere, but with you he found a reason to pause." Her uncle nudged her, "So you didn't look like a Serenity when you were born, it wasn't even the plan, but you are one now. So, don't think to hard on this little one's name. It'll come to you."

* * *

 **A/N: I'm not going to lie, I kind of love it when siblings name their siblings, I think it makes them closer in a way (my older sister named me haha). Be sure to let me know what you guys think though! And also, anon91, you are too sweet! I enjoyed reading everything you said last night and it made my day (I had a really rough one at work so it really touched me!) And galwidanatitud thank you so much for being here since the very beginning of this story (and for coming over from my other Daryl story XD). I love reading everyones reviews so be sure to leave me some on this chapter!**


	54. Final

The festival was in full swing and Daryl was keeping an eye on Gracie while Aaron had gone to use the bathroom, the father not wanting to tear his daughter away from her fun. Looking around he had to admit it was nice seeing so many people happy, more than just the kids were enjoying themselves. Catching sight of Aaron coming back he thought it was a good thing because Ren still hadn't come down yet and he was starting to worry, maybe she was feeling nauseous again. He saw her though, walking with Aaron. As they got to where Daryl and Gracie were Aaron smiled, "Look who I found."

"Bout time." Daryl told her.

"I couldn't find any shirts that fit." She rolled her eyes at him with a smile, "It's like I blew up over night."

He had noticed she was wearing a dress, but he guessed in this circumstance he would be fine with her wearing it with so many people around. As they waved goodbye to Aaron and Gracie he said, "Maggie and Michonne might have some that fit. I could go on a run too to get you some."

"That all sounds amazing. As loose as this is, dresses still aren't very versatile." She admitted as they walked. After a few booths he felt her slid her hand into his and he looked down at her. She let out a slight laugh, "Just humor me alright. This is the most normal thing have been for me since it all started."

He nodded, admitting only to himself that it was nice to be able to walk around with her like this. They made their way around the campus area, him stopping with her as she looked at the different things people had set up, checking in on her people. It was nice seeing her so relaxed and having fun, it'd been a while since he'd seen it. As they walked Victoria came up to them, her son in a carrier hooked to her front. Ren pointed at it then looked to Daryl, "You're going to get me one of those right?"

"It's amazing, I can hold him and use my hands." Victoria laughed then looked to Daryl, "Negan found it for me on a run, he might know where another is because I'm not giving this up until he's walking."

"I'll ask." Daryl side-eyed Ren and she laughed.

"So what do you think of our little set up?" Ren asked her.

"It's nice. If I didn't think Jacob would miss your uncle so much I'd move here." Victoria smiled looking around, "You guys have built it up nice and strong. At first, I thought this festival idea was a bit strange but it's actually really nice. I've never seen people so relaxed since the world ended."

"I know. I kept waiting for something bad to happen during all the planning that would stop us from having it." Ren agreed with her.

"You got kidnapped." Daryl looked down at her.

She waved him off, "You saved me."

He rolled his eyes at her and Victoria laughed at them. She pointed to Rens stomach, "How much longer?"

"About half way." Ren answered, her hand landing on the top of her stomach making it more visible in the dress than before.

"It's going to feel longer than it is, but I barely remember it now. Same with birth." She said.

"That's a relief." Ren chuckled, "I've been worried about the no drugs thing."

"You're tougher than me and if I could do it, you won't have an issue." Victoria told her.

"Don't sell yourself short. You're tougher than you think." Ren smiled at her as Sera walked up to them. "Hey, what's up."

"The others want to talk to us." Sera told her and Victoria waved her good-bye as the three of them departed to where the others were. When they arrived Michonne, Rick, Carol, Ezekiel, Maggie, Jesus, Cyndie, and Beatrice were waiting for them.

"So what's up?" Ren asked, clearly this was some kind of leaders meeting.

"The festival is going really well." Michonne smiled at her, "Everyone's having a lot of fun so we thought that maybe we should make it a regular thing."

"Yeah April and Brittany really pulled this thing together." Jesus said, "Better than any of us thought it would be."

"We were thinking of having one every season." Ezekiel smiled, "Trade with each other, let the kids all spend time together, things like that."

"I think that sounds awesome." Sera smiled then looked to Ren, "Hermana?"

"I like the sound of that too. I know the others would agree as well." Ren looked at all of them, "How are we going to do it?"

"We should switch communities every time." Rick said, "Make it fair so this way you guys aren't always doing the hard work."

"Oceanside can take the next one since it'll be summer, and we have the beach." Cyndie offered.

"We can teach the kids to swim too." Carol added.

They spent some time planning everything out for the next one and decided that they would always make sure they had everything set for the next festival during the one they were at. When they were done, they all dispersed once more, eating, laughing, and enjoying the festival. As it got dark out people began to retire to their rooms. Daryl had finished being given advice from Rick about being a dad while he helped out with R.J. and he was now on his way to find Ren, which wasn't much work as he saw her sitting on one of the tables looking up at the stars.

Climbing onto the back of it he sat down behind her, legs on either side of her and pulled her to lean back on him. Kissing the back of her neck, he rested his chin on her shoulder, "You have a good day?"

"I did." She smiled, "You?"

"Mmhmm." He answered. "Michonne said she's got a couple of shirts you can borrow."

"Thank god." She laughed, "By the way we have to find a crib and stuff like that…or well you do since I'm not allowed on any runs."

"Make me a list and I'll get it." He told her, nuzzling up to her. He felt her jump slightly and looked at her, "What?"

"Nothing, I think he moved." She told him, a surprised smile on her face. She took his hand and pressed it to her stomach, "Here, I'm not sure if you'll be able to feel it."

He was worried that maybe she was holding his hand to her a bit too much to her stomach, but she didn't look like it hurt so he didn't say anything. After waiting a little bit his heart stopped as he felt a slight ripple under his hand. Her smile got wider, "Did you feel it."

"Yeah." He moved his hand to cup her face and kissed her, a smile on his lips as he did, "Gunna be a mover just like her mom."

" _His_ mom." She corrected him, "Victoria agrees with me that it's a boy."

He nodded at her, "You're wrong."

Ren laughed at him, leaning back against him and looking back up at the sky, "Picked a good day for this, there wasn't a cloud in the sky."

"Yeah. Went well." He agreed. She leaned her head against his cheek, relaxed into his arms and he asked, "You wanna go to bed?"

"I want to stay like this…for a little longer." She snuggled closer to him.

"Alright." He kissed her temple, "But I ain't carryin you inside this time."

She laughed again, "Fair enough."

* * *

Daryl parked his bike and headed into the dorm. He'd been out on a run with Aaron, Rick, and Negan and hadn't been back in a week. As he reached the second floor, he heard her as he shut the door to the hallway, "Are you hungry? I'm heating up left overs for you."

"How'd you know I was comin?" He asked seeing her in the kitchen area, their son on her hip as she stirred something on the stove.

"Negan radioed and told us." She turned and smiled, "Said you left right after getting back, didn't take a break or anything." Her son put his hands out for Daryl when he saw his dad, "Good thing too, your son really missed you."

"Only him?" Daryl took the eleven-month-old from his mother, giving him a kiss on the head before looked to Ren.

"I don't know, having more space in the bed was nice." She smirked. Going back to the stew she was making she asked, "So how was your guys trip?"

"Nah, nah, nah, we're not changin the subject." He moved her to face him, his arm going around her waist, pulling her to him, "Only he missed me?"

"I mean, Sera probably missed having you around for the re-soiling she's been doing." She tried to hold back her laugh as he pulled her closer, his nose brushing against hers.

"That it?" He asked.

"What about you?" She teased back.

"I missed you." He answered, not even hesitating. He gave her a long kiss then spoke through giving her more kisses, "Missed you a lot. Had a hard time sleepin."

"Oh and why's that?" She quirked an eyebrow.

"You'll find out later…maybe." He moved away from her and set the baby down in his play pen.

She rolled her eyes at him as he reached to grab a bowl to make himself some food, "You know I missed you."

"Good." He kissed her again. "How were things while I was gone."

"Fine, just the normal summer stuff." She shrugged, "But I've been thinking-"

"That ain't good." He said with a hidden smirk.

"Oh, stop." She gave him a light shove as he started eating, "I've been thinking that maybe we should consider moving."

"What? Where?" he asked through chewing.

"There are apartment style housing buildings not to far on the other side of the campus, we could clear it out and move a solar panel or two over there since this area is getting the power from both water wheels now." She shrugged.

"Where'd this come from?" he looked at her confused.

"Hammonds going to be out of his crib soon and he's going to need a better, safer bed and I remember how hard it was to find Becca one that would fit in these rooms and then he's going to need space to grow and play. Not to mention when he gets even older, he's going to be moody and angsty as a teenager and want space to have girlfriend and all of that stuff." She rambled on.

"Ren." He sat down his bowl, stepping closer to her, "You alright?"

"I'm pregnant." She blurted out. Realizing she'd let it out she let out a sigh, "That wasn't how I planned on telling you… I had this whole idea and-"

He cut her off by wrapping his arms around her and kissing her happily, "Don matter how you told me. How far along?"

"I'm a month late." She told him, "I know it's not as sure as I was with Hammond, but I guess I couldn't keep it from you this time."

"Looks like we're seein Saddiq again." Daryl kissed her again, "This time it's a girl."

"Hey that part was entirely up to you. I have no say in what it is." She laughed.

Daryl walked over and picked his son back up, "You ready to be a badass big brother?"

The boy gurgled out a laugh and Ren smiled at them both, "I don't think he'll be ready to not have all of mom and dads attention."

"He's still gunna get plenty with April and Nessa around." He came back over to her, "We'll start lookin at clearin that other building. I think Brittany's boyfriend was lookin at movin here, so we're gunna start fillin up anyways."

"Thank you." She said before reaching out to take Hammond, "I'll get him ready for bed, you finish eating."

"Don put him down without me." He picked his bowl up and watched as she headed down the hallway.

"I wasn't planning on it, he goes down a lot easier when you're here." He couldn't see her anymore, but he knew she was talking to Hammond as she said, "Don't you? You miss daddy when he's not here?"

* * *

She laid with her head on his chest, feeling his fingers going through her hair as they lay recovering from Daryl showing her why he'd been having a hard time sleeping, and she asked him, "Do you want to stay here at the campus?"

"Hmm?" He looked down at her.

Ren propped her head up to look at him, "If we're going to move would you rather be in Alexandria or Kingdom? Be closer to Rick or Carol. Be in your home?"

He shrugged, "I can see 'em when I want. My home ain't a place, it's with you and Hammond."

"Okay, just wanted to make sure." She smiled.

"You wanna go somewhere else instead?" he asked, making sure that's what she wasn't trying to say.

"No, I just didn't want it to be all about me." She put her head back down, "I wanted to make sure it was about both of us and I remember how much you wanted me to come live with you and you ended up living with me."

"'slong as were together." He said, "don matter where we are."

"Yeah, you're right." She nuzzled against his chest.

~Fin~

* * *

 **A/N: So I really wanted to get to 55 chapters but it just didn't happen. I didn't want to put things in there that weren't useful just to drag it out. But Ren and Daryl are a happy little family now and it's getting bigger!**

 **Thank you all so much for everyone that has been reading since the beginning and everyone who made it all the way through! I appreciate every single one of you. I don't know that I'll ever do a second part to this but if I do I will let you guys know!**

 **Again thank you all so much!**

 **UPDATE: I started a new TWD story that's an AU where the walkers never came about. It's called Another Life and it's about what would have happened if Daryl and Ren had met without the apocalypse happening. If you want to check it out, cool! If not that's cool too :) You're awesome!**


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